Du Tingting, Yu Xiang, Shao Song, Li Tong, Xu Shengmin, Wu Lijun
Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China.
Environ Sci Technol. 2023 Feb 28;57(8):3206-3217. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c05772. Epub 2023 Feb 2.
Nanoplastics (NPs), as emerging contaminants, have attracted increasing attention for their effects on human exposure and potential health risks. The protein corona formed on the surface of NPs affects the biological activity and fate of the NPs . However, how environmental aging, an inevitable process once NPs enter the environment, affects the formation of protein corona on NPs is still unclear. This study investigated the changes in the compositions of protein corona formed on photo-aged polystyrene (PS) NPs in human bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), corresponding to the inhalation exposure pathway. The results demonstrated that both the species and abundance of proteins in the BALF protein corona on the surface of PS NPs were altered by aging. In addition, the aged PS NPs are more hydrophilic and less electronegative than the pristine PS NPs; hence, there is an increased sorption of more negatively charged hydrophilic proteins. Moreover, aging-induced alterations in BALF protein corona enhanced the uptake of aged PS NPs by lung macrophages J774A.1 through phagocytosis and clathrin-mediated endocytosis. These findings highlight the importance of environmental aging processes in the biosafety assessment of nanoplastics.
纳米塑料（NPs）作为新兴污染物，因其对人体暴露的影响和潜在健康风险而受到越来越多的关注。NPs表面形成的蛋白质冠会影响NPs的生物活性和归宿。然而，一旦NPs进入环境，环境老化这一不可避免的过程如何影响NPs上蛋白质冠的形成仍不清楚。本研究调查了在人类支气管肺泡灌洗液（BALF）中光老化聚苯乙烯（PS）NPs表面形成的蛋白质冠的组成变化，这与吸入暴露途径相对应。结果表明，老化改变了PS NPs表面BALF蛋白质冠中蛋白质的种类和丰度。此外，老化的PS NPs比原始PS NPs更亲水且电负性更小；因此，更多带负电荷的亲水蛋白质的吸附增加。此外，老化诱导的BALF蛋白质冠的变化增强了肺巨噬细胞J774A.1对老化PS NPs的吞噬作用和网格蛋白介导的内吞作用。这些发现突出了环境老化过程在纳米塑料生物安全性评估中的重要性。
