College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, PR China.
CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
Environ Sci Technol. 2024 Aug 13;58(32):14158-14168. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.4c05215. Epub 2024 Aug 1.
The widespread use of plastic products in daily life has raised concerns about the health hazards associated with nanoplastics (NPs). When exposed, NPs are likely to infiltrate the bloodstream, interact with plasma proteins, and trigger macrophage recognition and clearance. In this study, we focused on establishing a correlation between the unique protein coronal signatures of high-density (HDPE) and low-density (LDPE) polyethylene (PE) NPs with their ultimate impact on macrophage recognition and cytotoxicity. We observed that low-density and high-density lipoprotein receptors (LDLR and SR-B1), facilitated by apolipoproteins, played an essential role in PE-NP recognition. Consequently, PE-NPs activated the caspase-3/GSDME pathway and ultimately led to pyroptosis. Advanced imaging techniques, including label-free scattered light confocal imaging and cryo-soft X-ray transmission microscopy with 3D-tomographic reconstruction (nano-CT), provided powerful insights into visualizing NPs-cell interactions. These findings underscore the potential risks of NPs to macrophages and introduce analytical methods for studying the behavior of NPs in biological systems.
日常生活中塑料制品的广泛使用引发了人们对与纳米塑料（NPs）相关的健康危害的担忧。当暴露于 NPs 时，它们很可能会渗透到血液中，与血浆蛋白相互作用，并引发巨噬细胞的识别和清除。在这项研究中，我们专注于建立高密度（HDPE）和低密度（LDPE）聚乙烯（PE）NPs 的独特蛋白冠状特征与其对巨噬细胞识别和细胞毒性的最终影响之间的相关性。我们观察到，载脂蛋白辅助的低密度和高密度脂蛋白受体（LDLR 和 SR-B1）在 PE-NP 的识别中发挥了重要作用。因此，PE-NPs 激活了 caspase-3/GSDME 途径，最终导致细胞焦亡。先进的成像技术，包括无标记散射光共聚焦成像和具有 3D 断层重建的 cryo-soft X 射线传输显微镜（nano-CT），为可视化 NPs-细胞相互作用提供了有力的见解。这些发现强调了 NPs 对巨噬细胞的潜在风险，并引入了分析方法来研究 NPs 在生物系统中的行为。
