4th Phase BK21 Future Environment Bio-defense Convergence Project Team Achievements
Published in Top 5% 'Journal of Hazardous Materials'
Dong-A University (President Lee Hae-woo) announced on the 11th that the 4th phase BK21 Future Environment Bio-defense Convergence Project Group published a paper elucidating the harmful effects of atmospheric ultrafine particulate matter on acute allergic diseases.
The joint research team led by Professors Kim Hyuk-soon and Cho Wan-seop published a paper titled “The impact of atmospheric ultrafine particulate matter on IgE-mediated type 1 hypersensitivity reaction” in the recent issue of the Journal of Hazardous Materials.
The Journal of Hazardous Materials is a prestigious academic journal with a Journal Impact Factor of 12.2 according to the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), ranking in the top 5% in the field of environmental science and engineering.
This study involved graduate students Park Jung-won, Kang Min-sung, and Kim Gyu-ri from the Department of Health Sciences at Dong-A University, supported by the 4th phase BK21 project, as first authors, with Professors Kim Hyuk-soon and Cho Wan-seop serving as corresponding authors.
The research team purified the structurally core substances of particulate matter for the purpose of “standardization related to particulate matter,” suggesting that these substances may exhibit harmful effects in IgE (immunoglobulin E)-mediated acute allergic diseases.
Additionally, the team extracted ultrafine particles in a mixture state into highly pure specific particles using a novel spark discharge method, achieving a technological advancement useful for evaluating the biological toxicity of each component in environmental impact assessments of ultrafine particles.
The “acute allergy induction mechanism by ultrafine particulate matter” elucidated by the Dong-A University research team is expected to provide important evidence for the prevention and diagnosis of respiratory diseases caused by ultrafine particulate matter, which has emerged as a social and environmental issue.
Atmospheric ultrafine particulate matter is a representative environmentally derived harmful factor known to be detrimental to the human body, causing respiratory and allergic diseases. However, due to variations in component distribution depending on region, season, and temperature, and unclear precise molecular mechanisms, standardizing the correlation with diseases has been challenging.
In this study, to standardize the structural substances of ultrafine particulate matter, the core particle of ultrafine particulate matter, “carbon black,” was purified using the “spark discharge method,” and its effects on acute respiratory allergic diseases were evaluated.
The results showed that ultrafine particulate matter induced acute inflammation of neutrophils in the lungs and excessive inflammatory responses in peripheral immune cells, promoting the exacerbation of disease severity caused by ultrafine particulate matter in acute allergic environments.
The Dong-A University research team reported that infiltration (spreading and invading adjacent tissues or cells) and degranulation (the disappearance or loss of cytoplasmic granules in certain granular cells) reactions of mast cells in vivo were further amplified by carbon black, a structural particle derived from ultrafine particulate matter, and that these effects appeared as the carbon black component of ultrafine particulate matter enhanced the IgE-mediated signaling pathway of mast cells.
This research was conducted with support from the Ministry of Education’s 4th phase BK21 project, the Ministry of Science and ICT’s Excellent New Researcher Support Project, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
The research team of Professors Kim Hyuk-soon and Cho Wan-seop stated, “We will continue basic research to elucidate immunological defense mechanisms against future environmental harmful factors, including ultrafine particulate matter.”
From the left, Park Jung-won, PhD candidate at Dong-A University, Kang Min-sung, master's student, Kim Gyu-ri, PhD candidate, Professor Jo Wan-seop, and Professor Kim Hyuk-soon.
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