Nanoparticles may influence mast cells gene expression profiles without affecting their degranulation function

Affiliations

¹ Nanotechnology Characterization Lab., Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
² Nanotechnology Characterization Lab., Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA; Utah Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Molecular Pharmaceutics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
³ Sequencing Facility Bioinformatics Group, Biomedical Informatics and Data Science Directorate, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
⁴ CCR Sequencing Facility, Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
⁵ 10x Genomics, Inc., Pleasanton, CA 94588-3260, USA.
⁶ Immunocompatibility Group, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L7 3NY, UK; Centre of Excellence for Long-Acting Therapeutics (CELT), Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L7 8TX, UK.
⁷ Nanotechnology Characterization Lab., Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA. Electronic address: marina@mail.nih.gov.

PMID: 40185352
PMCID: PMC12086044 (available on 2026-06-01)
DOI: 10.1016/j.nano.2025.102818

Nanoparticles may influence mast cells gene expression profiles without affecting their degranulation function

Hannah S Newton et al. Nanomedicine. 2025 Jun.

. 2025 Jun:66:102818.

doi: 10.1016/j.nano.2025.102818. Epub 2025 Apr 2.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Nanotechnology Characterization Lab., Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
² Nanotechnology Characterization Lab., Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA; Utah Center for Nanomedicine, Department of Molecular Pharmaceutics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
³ Sequencing Facility Bioinformatics Group, Biomedical Informatics and Data Science Directorate, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
⁴ CCR Sequencing Facility, Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
⁵ 10x Genomics, Inc., Pleasanton, CA 94588-3260, USA.
⁶ Immunocompatibility Group, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L7 3NY, UK; Centre of Excellence for Long-Acting Therapeutics (CELT), Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L7 8TX, UK.
⁷ Nanotechnology Characterization Lab., Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702, USA. Electronic address: marina@mail.nih.gov.

PMID: 40185352
PMCID: PMC12086044 (available on 2026-06-01)
DOI: 10.1016/j.nano.2025.102818

Abstract

An in vitro method for monitoring nanoparticle effects on IgE-dependent mast cell degranulation was developed and validated. The assayed nanoparticles included four clinical-grade nanomedicines (Abraxane, Doxil, AmBisome, and Feraheme) and three commercial research-grade nanomaterials (generation 5 PAMAM dendrimers with carboxy-, hydroxy-, or amine- surface functionalities). Most of the tested materials did not alter IgE-dependent mast cell degranulation, suggesting that nanoparticles and nanomedicines are unlikely to worsen pre-existing allergies to other antigens. Two clinical-grade formulations containing cytotoxic oncology drugs-Abraxane and Doxil-decreased degranulation. Abraxane but not Doxil decreased FcεR expression on the cell surface. Single-cell sequencing revealed the most differentially expressed genes (DEG) in Abraxane and Doxil-treated cultures. Interestingly, Feraheme and amine-terminated dendrimers induced DEG without affecting degranulation. These data demonstrate that some nanomaterials have more effects on immune cells than can be detected by a functional immunoassay.

Keywords: Degranulation; Immunotoxicity; Mast cells; Nanoparticles; non-clinical.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest W.X. and B.S.T. are employees of 10× Genomics, Inc., which sells the reagents for single-cell sequencing analysis. Other authors have nothing to disclose.

References

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Nanoparticles may influence mast cells gene expression profiles without affecting their degranulation function

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Nanoparticles may influence mast cells gene expression profiles without affecting their degranulation function

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Conflict of interest statement

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