Immunocompetent cell targeting by food-additive titanium dioxide.

ABSTRACT: Food-grade titanium dioxide (fgTiO₂) is a bio-persistent particle under intense regulatory scrutiny. Yet paradoxically, the only known cell reservoirs for fgTiO₂ are graveyard intestinal pigment cells which are metabolically and immunologically quiescent. Here we identify immunocompetent cell targets of fgTiO₂ in humans, most notably in the subepithelial dome region of intestinal Peyer's patches. Using multimodal microscopies with single-particle detection and per-cell / vesicle image analysis we achieve correlative dosimetry, quantitatively recapitulating human cellular exposures in the ileum of mice fed a fgTiO₂-containing diet. Epithelial microfold cells selectively funnel fgTiO₂ into LysoMac and LysoDC cells with ensuing accumulati

SUBMITTER: Wills JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12227633 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature