{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T10:17:14Z","timestamp":1788430634947,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788393600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012905","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ZR2023MB025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZR2023MB025"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012905","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012905","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ZR2026QC0409"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZR2026QC0409"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012905","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Development Plan for Youth Innovation Teams in Higher Education Institutions in Shandong Province","award":["2023KJ252"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023KJ252"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100020206","name":"Medical and Health Science and Technology Development Project of Shandong Province","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["202402050463"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202402050463"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100020206","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"College Students\u2019 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program","award":["X2026299"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["X2026299"]}]},{"name":"Research Startup Fund of Shandong Second Medical University","award":["2022BKQ044"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022BKQ044"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biomolecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) are common nanoparticles that are widely used in industrial and medical applications. Inhalation exposure to SiNPs is frequently unavoidable in occupational and everyday settings. While the adverse effects of SiNPs on lung injury have been extensively documented, the intrinsic mechanisms underlying SiNPs-induced pulmonary inflammation remain incompletely understood. This study demonstrates that the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) plays an essential role in SiNPs-triggered lung inflammation. In vitro, SiNPs induced death of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) and activated the STING pathway. Knockout of STING expression alleviated SiNPs-induced inflammatory responses and subsequent cell death. Further mechanistic investigations revealed that STING activation promotes nuclear translocation of NF-\u03baB p65 and subsequent activation of the NF-\u03baB pathway, ultimately driving the secretion of inflammatory cytokines. In vivo, SiNPs-induced NF-\u03baB activation and inflammatory cell infiltration were significantly attenuated in STING-deficient (STING\u2212\/\u2212) mice. These findings reveal that targeting the STING signaling pathway may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for mitigating lung inflammation caused by silica particles.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biom16091273","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T09:20:43Z","timestamp":1788427243000},"page":"1273","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Silica Nanoparticles Elicit Pulmonary Inflammation via STING-Dependent Activation of NF-\u03baB p65 Signaling Pathway"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Junyi","family":"Gao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Technology, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang 261053, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-6794-9751","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fei","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Technology, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang 261053, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Bing","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Technology, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang 261053, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Yuhang","family":"Ji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Technology, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang 261053, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Hongxu","family":"Dong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Technology, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang 261053, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Dongfeng","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Morphology, School of Basic Medical Science, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang 261053, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9701-8060","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zixuan","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Technology, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang 261053, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1274","DOI":"10.1038\/s41401-021-00693-6","article-title":"Tetrandrine alleviates silicosis by inhibiting canonical and non-canonical NLRP3 inflammasome activation in lung macrophages","volume":"43","author":"Song","year":"2022","journal-title":"Acta Pharmacol. 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