Fig. 8

MXenes attenuate B[a]P triggered AhR activation in human cells. (A,B) Cytotoxicity assessment. HT-29 cells were exposed for 24 h to (A) B[a]P, and (B) MXenes. Cell viability was evaluated using the LDH release assay. (C) Cellular uptake. TEM analysis was performed upon exposure of HT-29 cells to MXenes (80 mg/L) for 24 h (see Fig. S4 for additional images of control cells and exposed cells). Scale bar: 2 μm. m, mitochondria; N, nucleus. (D) AhR activation. Luciferase activity was determined in HT-29-Lucia™ AhR reporter cells after exposure for 24 h to MXenes (80 mg/L), B[a]P (1 mg/L), and NOM (10 mg/L). FICZ (1 μM) was used as a positive control. Data are shown as mean values ± S.D. of three independent experiments (n = 3). One-way ANOVA with Tukey's multiple comparison test was used to analyze statistical differences between the exposures (∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001).