2026-10-13T10:42:37Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33772288 2026-09-15T06:29:41Z category_24139 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Waterpipe smoke condensate activates autophagy in non-tumorigenic lung epithelial cells: implications for inflammation and stemness Rania Zaarour (24912193) Bilal Azakir (8845631) Ayda Shah Mahmood (14764237) Zohra Nausheen Nizami (19254517) Husam Nawafleh (14764240) Yehya Elsayed (1493344) Salem Chouaib (22347908) Cell development, proliferation and death lung cancer smoking inflammation autophagy waterpipe <p dir="ltr">Waterpipe smoking is a growing global health concern, but its effects on bronchial epithelial cells are poorly understood. We exposed non-tumorigenic human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells to waterpipe smoke condensate (WPSC). WPSC reduced viability dose-dependently, but a subcytotoxic dose (0.1%) caused only a transient drop in viability and no significant apoptosis over 72 h (MTT and Annexin V/PI assays). This resistance was associated with autophagy activation: LC3-II and p62 accumulated over time and further increased with bafilomycin A1, alongside increased AMPK and decreased mTORC1 phosphorylation. Blocking autophagy with bafilomycin A1 increased apoptosis and necrosis, indicating a protective role. WPSC also induced DNA damage (γH2AX and 53BP1 foci), proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, CCL2), and the cancer stem cell markers CD44 and CD133. Subcytotoxic waterpipe smoke thus activates a protective autophagic response in normal lung epithelial cells, which may be an early event linking waterpipe smoke to lung carcinogenesis.</p> 2026-09-15T06:29:41Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.33772288.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Waterpipe_smoke_condensate_activates_autophagy_in_non-tumorigenic_lung_epithelial_cells_implications_for_inflammation_and_stemness/33772288 CC BY 4.0