Unit Fibre and Nanotoxicology

At the European level, the unit contributes to the development and amendment of legal procedures, in addition to relevant technical guidance for chemicals in nanoform. Internationally, the unit participates in the adaptation of OECD test guidelines and guidance documents for the toxicological testing of nanomaterials. For this purpose, it is actively engaged in round-robin studies and represents the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in relevant expert committees such as the ECHAshort forEuropean Chemicals Agency Nanomaterial Expert Group (NMEG), the EFSAshort forEuropean Food Safety Authority cross-cutting Working Group on Nanotechnologies and the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) at the European and International level.

The unit is active in applied safety research for nano- and other advanced materials. Research needs are continuously identified, new projects are initiated accordingly. Hence, the unit participates in numerous national and international third-party funded projects. The overarching research focus of the unit is the development of new approach methodologies (NAMs) for the toxicological assessment of nano- and other advanced materials and their application in tiered testing strategies and/or integrated approaches to testing and assessment (IATAs) for risk assessment and for Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design. This includes the establishment of grouping approaches, the development of screening procedures for instance based on (surface) reactivity, and the development of alternative and, in particular, data-driven (in-silico) methods to improve the predictability of the toxicological potential of nanomaterials. Additional research activities focus on nano-specific modes of action, inter alia, by means of sophisticated cell biology (e.g. flow cytometry, confocal microscopy) and ‘omics techniques (e.g. proteomics, metabolomics).

2023
Murphy F.A., Johnston H.J., Dekkers S., Bleeker E.A.J., Oomen A.G., Fernandes T.F., Rasmussen K., Jantunen Pshort forphosphorus., Rauscher H., Hunt N., di Cristo L., Braakhuis H.M., Haase A., Hristozov D., Wohlleben W., Sabella S., and Stone V.
How to formulate hypotheses and IATAs to support grouping and read-across of nanoforms. ALTEX - Alternatives to animal experimentation 40 (1), 125-140.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.2203241

Bahl, A., Ibrahim C., Plate C., Haase A., Dengjel J., Nymark Pshort forphosphorus., Dumit V.I.
PROTEOMAS: A workflow enabling harmonized proteomic meta-analysis and proteomic signature mapping. Journal of Cheminformatics 15 (1), 34.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13321-023-00710-2

2022
Emecheta E.E., Borda D.B., Pfohl Pshort forphosphorus.M., Wohlleben W., Hutzler C., Haase A., and Roloff A.
A comparative investigation of the sorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to various polydisperse micro- and nanoplastics using a novel third-phase partition method. Microplastics and Nanoplastics 2 (1), 29.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1186/s43591-022-00049-9

Boyles M., Murphy F., Mueller W., Wohlleben W., Jacobsen N.R., Braakhuis H., Giusti A., and Stone V.
Development of a standard operating procedure for the DCFH2-DA acellular assessment of reactive oxygen species produced by nanomaterials. Toxicology Mechanisms and Methods 32 (6), 439-452.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1080/15376516.2022.2029656

Di Cristo L., Janer G., Dekkers S., Boyles M., Giusti A., Keller J.G., Wohlleben W., Braakhuis H., Ma-Hock L., Oomen A.G., Haase A., Stone V., Murphy F., Johnston H.J., and Sabella S.
Integrated approaches to testing and assessment for grouping nanomaterials following dermal exposure. Nanotoxicology 16 (3), 310-332.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1080/17435390.2022.2085207

Verdon R., Stone V., Murphy F., Christopher E., Johnston H. J., Doak S. H., Vogel U., Haase A., and Kermanizadeh A.
The application of existing genotoxicity methodologies for grouping of nanomaterials: towards an integrated approach to testing and assessment. Particle and Fibre Toxicology 19 (1), 32.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12989-022-00476-9

Ag Seleci D., Tsiliki G., Werle K., Elam D.A., Okpowe Oshort foroxygen., Seidel K., Bi X., Westerhoff Pshort forphosphorus., Innes E., Boyles M., Miller M., Giusti A., Murphy F., Haase A., Stone V., and Wohlleben W.
Determining nanoform similarity via assessment of surface reactivity by abiotic and in vitro assays. NanoImpact 26, 100390.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.impact.2022.100390

Jeliazkova N., Bleeker E., Cross R., Haase A., Janer G., Peijnenburg W., Pink M., Rauscher H., Svendsen C., Tsiliki G., Zabeo A., Hristozov D., Stone V., and Wohlleben W. How can we justify grouping of nanoforms for hazard assessment? Concepts and tools to quantify similarity. NanoImpact 25, 100366.                                                                                                    External Link:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.impact.2021.100366

2021
Melanie Kah, Linda J. Johnston, Rai Kookana, Wendy Bruce, Andrea Haase, Vera Ritz, Jordan Dinglasan, Shareen Doak, Hemda Garelick, Vladimir Gubala
Comprehensive Framework for Human Health Risk Assessment of Nanopesticides
Nature Nanotechnology 16, 955
External Link:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-021-00964-7

Jeliazkova N., Apostolova M.D., Andreoli C., Barone F., Barrick A., Battistelli C., Bossa C., Botea-Petcu A., Châtel A., De Angelis I., Dusinska M., El Yamani N., Gheorghe D., Giusti A., Gómez-Fernández Pshort forphosphorus., Grafström R., Gromelski M., Jacobsen N.R., Jeliazkov V., Jensen K.A., Kochev N., Kohonen Pshort forphosphorus., Manier N., Mariussen E., Mech A., Navas J.M., Paskaleva V., Precupas A., Puzyn T., Rasmussen K., Ritchie Pshort forphosphorus., Llopis I.R., Rundén-Pran E., Sandu R., Shandilya N., Tanasescu S., Haase A., and Nymark Pshort forphosphorus. Towards
FAIR nanosafety data.
Nature Nanotechnology 16, 644
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-00911-6

Höper T., Siewert K., Dumit V.I., von Bergen M., Schubert K., and Haase A.
The Contact Allergen NiSO4 Triggers a Distinct Molecular Response in Primary Human Dendritic Cells Compared to Bacterial LPS. Frontiers in Immunology 12 (656).
External Link:https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.644700

2020
Stone V., Gottardo S., Bleeker E.A.J., Braakhuis H., Dekkers S., Fernandes T., Haase A., Hunt N., Hristozov D., Jantunen Pshort forphosphorus., Jeliazkova N., Johnston H., Lamon L., Murphy F., Rasmussen K., Rauscher H., Jiménez A.S., Svendsen C., Spurgeon D., Vázquez-Campos S., Wohlleben W., and Oomen A.G.
A framework for grouping and read-across of nanomaterials- supporting innovation and risk assessment. Nano Today 35, 100941.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nantod.2020.100941

Bahl A., Hellack B., Wiemann M., Giusti A., Werle K., Haase A., and Wohlleben W. Nanomaterial categorization by surface reactivity: A case study comparing 35 materials with four different test methods. NanoImpact, 100234.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.impact.2020.100234

Bannuscher A., Hellack B., Bahl A., Laloy J., Herman H., Stan M., Dinischiotu A., Giusti A., Krause B.-C., Tentschert J., Rosu M., Balta C., Hermenean A., Wiemann M., Luch A., and Haase A. Metabolomics profiling to investigate nanomaterial toxicity in vitro and in vivo. Nanotoxicology, 1-20.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1080/17435390.2020.1764123

Bannuscher A., Karkossa I., Buhs S., Nollau Pshort forphosphorus., Kettler K., Radu M., Dinischiotu A., Hellack B., Wiemann M., Luch A., Von Bergen M., Haase A., and Schubert K.
A multi-omics approach reveals mechanisms of nanomaterial toxicity and structure–activity relationships in alveolar macrophages. Nanotoxicology 14, 1-15.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1080/17435390.2019.1684592

Bewersdorff T., Glitscher E., Bergueiro J., Eravci M., Miceli E., Haase A., and Calderon M. (2020): The influence of shape and charge on protein corona composition in common gold nanostructures. Materials Science and Engineering: C, 111270.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2020.111270

2019
Bahl A., Hellack B., Radu M., Dinischiotu A., Wiemann M., Brinkmann, J., Luch A., Renard B., and Haase A. Recursive feature elimination in random forest classification supports nanomaterial grouping. NanoImpact 15, 100179.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.impact.2019.100179

Bewersdorff T., Gruber A., Eravci M., Dumbani M., Klinger D., and Haase A. Amphiphilic nanogels: influence of surface hydrophobicity on protein corona, biocompatibility and cellular uptake. International Journal of Nanomedicine Volume 14, 7861-7878
External Link:https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S215935

Karkossa I., Bannuscher A., Hellack B., Bahl A., Buhs S., Nollau Pshort forphosphorus., Luch A., Schubert K., Von Bergen M., and Haase A. An in-depth multi-omics analysis in RLE-6TN rat alveolar epithelial cells allows for nanomaterial categorization. Particle and Fibre Toxicology 16.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12989-019-0321-5

Wohlleben W., Hellack B., Nickel C., Herrchen M., Kerstin H.-R., Kettler K., Riebeling C., Haase A., Funk B., Kühnel D., Göhler D., Stintz M., Schumacher C., Wiemann M., Keller J., Landsiedel R., Broßell D., Pitzko S., and Kuhlbusch T.A.J. The nanoGRAVUR grouping framework for nanomaterials concerning occupational, consumer, environmental risk: Conception, property harmonization strategy and proof of concept/suitability. Nanoscale 11.
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1039/c9nr03306h

2018
Riebeling C, Piret J-Pshort forphosphorus, Trouiller B, Nelissen I, Saout C, Toussaint Oshort foroxygen, Haase A. A guide to nanosafety testing: Considerations on cytotoxicity testing in different cell models. NanoImpact, 10:1-10,
DOI: External Link:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.impact.2017.11.004

2017
Haase A, Dommershausen N, Schulz M, Landsiedel R, Reichardt Pshort forphosphorus, Krause BC, Tentschert J, Luch A. Genotoxicity testing of different surface-functionalized SiO2, ZrO2 and silver nanomaterials in 3D human bronchial models. Arch Tox, 91:3991-4007
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-017-2015-9

2016
Wohlleben W*, Driessen MD*, Raesch S, Schaefer UF, Schulze C, Vacano Bv, Vennemann A, Wiemann M, Ruge CA, Platsch H, Mues S, Ossig R, Tomm JM, Schnekenburger J, Kuhlbusch TA, Luch A, Lehr CM*, Haase A.* Influence of agglomeration and specific lung lining lipid/protein interaction on short-term inhalation toxicity. Nanotox 10: 970-980
External Link:https://doi.org/10.3109/17435390.2016.115567

2015
Driessen MD, Mues S, Vennemann A, Hellack B. Bannuscher A, Vimalakanthan V, Riebeling C, Ossig R, Wiemann M, Schnekenburger J, Kuhlbusch TA, Renard B, Luch A, Haase A. Proteomic analysis of protein carbonylation: a useful tool to unravel nanoparticle toxicity Mechanisms. Part Fibre Tox 12: 36
External Link:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12989-015-0108-2