Particulate matter modulates the transcriptome of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, dysregulates cell metabolism and enhances their carcinogenic activity

Particulate matter (PM) is an air pollutant that induces various disorders, mainly associated with immunological activity. Accordingly, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) play an active role in responding to PM through immunological changes, reflected in their transcriptome, which can lead to alterations in critical homeostatic pathways. Similarly, the gene expression profile of cancer patients is altered in these cells, suggesting a significant interaction in carcinogenic processes. In this study, RNA sequencing of PBMCs exposed to PM10 was performed, and analyses were carried out to identify and characterize differential gene expression patterns related to the hallmarks of cancer. Our results revealed that PBMCs suffered a differential remodeling of 1226 genes upon PM10 exposure, deregulating critical biological processes such as angiogenesis, apoptosis, the cell cycle, inflammation, and metabolism, which may promote cancer initiation, progression, metastasis, and immune evasion. Moreover, common genes were altered in different cell types upon PM exposure, highlighting the role of AKR1C1 in the response to this pollutant. An association between the genes implicated in cancer-related processes and some transcription factors was observed. In conclusion, PM10 has strong modulatory effects on the PBMCs transcriptome, suggesting that genetic remodeling may lead to cancer.