State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, No.1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu Province, China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, No.1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu Province, China; Joint International Research Laboratory of Food Safety, Jiangnan University, No.1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu Province, China.
State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, No.1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu Province, China; Engineering Research Center of Dairy Quality and Safety Control Technology, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia University, No.235 Daxue West Road, Hohhot 010021, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, No.1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu Province, China; Joint International Research Laboratory of Food Safety, Jiangnan University, No.1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu Province, China.
Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2022 Oct;218:112736. doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2022.112736. Epub 2022 Aug 3.
At present, nanoplastics have been detected in food and the environment, but they have serious impacts on the human body. As one of the typical representatives of nanoplastics, polystyrene (PS) is generally used as an experimental object. Few studies found that PS could modulate the formation of amyloid fibrils, leading to the occurrence of diseases. However, its submicron-scale effects remain elusive. Thus, this study aimed to explore the interaction between PS of particle size 100-500 nm and hen egg-white lysozyme (HEWL). The results showed that PS of size 400 nm markedly promoted the primary nucleation step of amyloid fibril formation, and fibrils had more small fragments compared with PS of size 100 nm in the control and sample groups. PS of larger particle size changed the spatial structure of HEWL significantly. This study analyzed the experimental results from the perspective of protein corona and thermodynamics. The study confirmed that PS was able to form protein corona with HEWL in the initial stage, which was mainly driven by hydrophobic interactions. More importantly, the interface and junction of the protein corona were the main sites for the formation of amyloid fibrils. This study highlighted the role of submicron particle size and discussed the toxic effects of nanoparticles.
目前，已在食品和环境中检测到纳米塑料，但它们对人体有严重影响。作为纳米塑料的典型代表之一，聚苯乙烯（PS）通常被用作实验对象。很少有研究发现 PS 可以调节淀粉样纤维的形成，从而导致疾病的发生。然而，其亚微米级别的影响仍难以捉摸。因此，本研究旨在探索粒径为 100-500nm 的 PS 与鸡卵清白蛋白溶菌酶（HEWL）之间的相互作用。结果表明，粒径为 400nm 的 PS 明显促进了淀粉样纤维形成的初始成核步骤，与对照组和样品组中的 100nm PS 相比，纤维具有更多的小片段。较大粒径的 PS 显著改变了 HEWL 的空间结构。本研究从蛋白质冠和热力学的角度分析了实验结果。研究证实，PS 能够在初始阶段与 HEWL 形成蛋白质冠，这主要是由疏水相互作用驱动的。更重要的是，蛋白质冠的界面和连接点是形成淀粉样纤维的主要部位。本研究强调了亚微米粒径的作用，并讨论了纳米颗粒的毒性作用。
