Asselman, J.

De Rijcke, M.

De Schamphelaere, K.

Janssen, C.

Mees, J.

Tilleman, L.

Van Acker, E.

Van Nieuwerburgh, F.

Open Marine Archive

-  32  -  
Oral presentation Science in the North Sea 
The molecular basis for positive health effects of sea spray on human 
lung cells 
Asselman Jana
1
, Van Acker Emmanuel
1
, De Rijcke Maarten
2
, Tilleman Laurentijn
3
, Van Nieuwerburgh Filip
3
, 
Mees Jan
2
, De Schamphelaere Karel
1
 and Janssen Colin
1 
1 
Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Aquatic Ecology, Environmental Toxicology Unit - 
GhEnToxLab, Ghent University, Campus Coupure, Coupure Links 653, Building F – 2nd Floor, Gent, 
Belgium  
E-mail: jana.asselman@ugent.be  
2
 Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Wandelaarkaai 7, 8400 Oostende, Belgium 
3
  Laboratory for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, 
Campus UZ, Ottergemse Steenweg 460, 9000 Ghent, Belgium 
 
The positive health effects of living in coastal areas have generally been attributed to psychological 
mechanisms. Recently, it has been suggested that sea spray aerosols cause beneficial health effects 
through interaction with the mTOR signaling pathway. Here, we provide molecular evidence to support 
this hypothesis. Using in-vitro experiments, we exposed human epithelial lung cells to extracts of natural 
sea spray aerosols sampled at the sea shore, sea spray aerosols generated in the laboratory, pure 
homoyessotoxin and a chemical mTOR inhibitor. We observed significant effects on the mTOR pathway 
in all exposed samples. Similar to the chemical mTOR inhibitor, we observed a downregulation of genes 
involved in the mTOR pathway for natural sea spray aerosols. Downregulation and inhibition of the mTOR 
pathway have been associated with positive health effects in numerous studies. Furthermore, we 
observed significant regulation of genes and pathways that are closely linked with mTOR most likely 
caused by the effects on the mTOR pathway. These genes and pathways include the new potential 
pharmaceutical target PCSK9 and the steroid biosynthesis. For all genes and pathways, the effects of the 
natural sea spray aerosol and the chemical mTOR pathway were highly similar. This suggests that natural 
sea spray aerosols contain molecules similar to the chemical mTOR inhibitor, at least in terms of effects, 
and highlight the potential of sea spray aerosols as new potential pharmaceutical leads. Overall, these 
results provide a substantial molecular evidence base for positive health effects of sea spray aerosols 
through the mTOR pathway in human long cell lines. 
 
Keywords: sea spray; human health; RNA 
  


The molecular basis for positive health effects of sea spray on human lung cells

The molecular basis for positive health effects of sea spray on human lung cells

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