Nanoparticle effect on neutrophil produced myeloperoxidase

Nanoparticles affect the immune system as they may interact directly with immune cells and activate them. However, it is possible that nanoparticles also interact with released cytokines and immunologically active enzymes. To test this hypothesis, the activity of myeloperoxidase released from activated neutrophils was measured in the presence of nanoparticles with different chemistry and size. In high concentrations of nanoparticles, myeloperoxidase activity is decreased whereas in low concentrations of nanoparticles the activity is increased. The effect of the nanoparticles on myeloperoxidase is dependent on the total protein concentration as low concentrations of bovine serum albumin together with nanoparticles further increase the myeloperoxidase activity. The results herein show that nanoparticles affect the immune response not only at the cellular level but also on released immune effectors. In particular, they show that the nanoparticle effect on myeloperoxidase activity in the neutrophil degranulation environment is the result of an intricate interplay between the enzyme and protein concentrations in the environment and the available surface area on the nanoparticle.