Role of oxidation and Nrf2 in systematic approach to study adverse effects of ultrafine particles

Air pollution is a well-known cause of adverse health effects in human respiratory system and other organs. Especially ultrafine particles (UFP) and their component, black carbon (BC) are emerging as highly important for health and environment as stated by WHO. Oxidative stress is a key mechanism in the human adverse health effects, and NRF2 is a key factor in those effects. It is however, not clear what are the actual reasons for the adverse effects, and therefore systematic approach to study the UFP compositions in a highly controllable manner is needed. Moreover, air pollution monitoring would need easy and robust ways of detecting the potential for adverse effects from air samples. In this highly multidisciplinary approach between University of Eastern Finland and Tampere University, we systematically study the role of different compositions (metals, organic compounds) on adverse effects. It contributes to a major societal challenge of UFP exposure in cities worldwide.