Department of Life Sciences, College of Science, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA.
Center for Coastal Studies, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA; Rice Rivers Center, VA Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
Chemosphere. 2023 Nov;341:140069. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140069. Epub 2023 Sep 4.
Plastic pollution continues to erupt as a global ecological concern. As plastic debris is degraded into nanoscale and microscale particles via biodegradation, UV-irradiation, and mechanical processes, nanoplastic pollution arises as a threat to virtually every biological and ecological system on the planet. In this study, zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were exposed to fluorescently labeled plastic particles at nanoscales (30 nm and 100 nm). The uptake of both the nanoplastic particles (NPs) was found to exponentially increase with incubation time. Penetration of NPs through the natural barrier of the zebrafish embryos, the chorion, was observed prior to the hatching of the embryo. As a result, the NPs were found to accumulate on the body surface as well as inside the body of the zebrafish. The invasion of NPs into zebrafish embryos induced the upregulation of several stress and immune response genes including interleukins (il6 and il1b), cytochrome P450 (cyp1a and cyp51), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) removal protein-encoding genes (sod and cat). This suggested the initiation of ROS generation and removal as well as the activation of the immune response of zebrafish embryos. Colocalization of macrophages and NPs in zebrafish embryos indicated the involvement of macrophage response to the NP invasion at the early developmental stage of zebrafish.
塑料污染持续成为全球性的生态关注点。随着塑料碎片通过生物降解、紫外线照射和机械过程降解为纳米级和微纳米级颗粒，纳米塑料污染成为了对地球上几乎每一个生物和生态系统的威胁。在这项研究中，斑马鱼（Danio rerio）胚胎暴露于荧光标记的纳米级塑料颗粒（30nm 和 100nm）中。研究发现，纳米塑料颗粒（NPs）的摄取量随孵育时间呈指数增长。在胚胎孵化之前，NPs 穿透了斑马鱼胚胎的天然屏障——卵黄囊。结果表明，NPs 不仅在斑马鱼体表积累，而且在体内积累。NPs 对斑马鱼胚胎的入侵诱导了包括白细胞介素（il6 和 il1b）、细胞色素 P450（cyp1a 和 cyp51）和活性氧（ROS）清除蛋白编码基因（sod 和 cat）在内的几种应激和免疫反应基因的上调。这表明 ROS 的产生和清除以及斑马鱼胚胎免疫反应的激活已经开始。巨噬细胞和 NPs 在斑马鱼胚胎中的共定位表明，在斑马鱼胚胎的早期发育阶段，巨噬细胞对 NP 入侵的反应参与其中。
