The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250014, China.
Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250117, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 Nov 27;16(47):65540-65552. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c14641. Epub 2024 Nov 14.
The potential impact of nanoplastics (NPs) on human carcinogenic processes is a matter of growing concern, particularly in light of the global plastic pollution crisis. Although the potential effects of NPs on human health have been well investigated, many uncertainties remain regarding their role in tumor behavior. Upon exposure, NPs can enter the bloodstream and are prone to interacting with plasma proteins to form a protein corona (PC), which can influence their interactions with cancer cells. However, how the PCs adsorbed on NPs affect the particle-to-tumor cell interaction and their effect on the tumor biological behavior remain unclear. To better understand the formation of PCs following NPs exposure in the bloodstream under various clinical conditions, we investigated the PC compositions of NPs derived from thyroid cancer (TC) patients and healthy volunteers. Our data revealed a significant enrichment of fibrinogen in the PCs formed on NPs derived from TC patient plasma, which in turn accelerated the endocytosis of NPs into TC cells. In addition, the uptake pathway of NPs into TC cells differed substantially between the two groups studied due to the different PC compositions in cancer patients and healthy individuals. Moreover, intriguingly alterations in the PCs induced by the clinical pathology status were also found to promote NPs engulfment by human macrophages, resulting in potent pro-inflammatory effects, in turn exerting pro-tumor effects. These findings emphasize the importance of considering the significance of a realistic biological identity on NPs and their interactions with cancer cells and also pinpoint the implications of the carcinogenesis outcomes of NPs exposure in humans.
纳米塑料（NPs）对人类致癌过程的潜在影响是一个日益引起关注的问题，特别是考虑到全球塑料污染危机。尽管 NPs 对人类健康的潜在影响已经得到了充分的研究，但关于它们在肿瘤行为中的作用仍存在许多不确定性。暴露后，NPs 可以进入血液，并容易与血浆蛋白相互作用形成蛋白冠（PC），这可能会影响它们与癌细胞的相互作用。然而，吸附在 NPs 上的 PCs 如何影响颗粒与肿瘤细胞的相互作用及其对肿瘤生物学行为的影响仍不清楚。为了更好地了解在各种临床条件下 NPs 在血液中暴露后形成的 PCs，我们研究了来自甲状腺癌（TC）患者和健康志愿者的 NPs 所形成的 PCs 的组成。我们的数据显示，在源自 TC 患者血浆的 NPs 形成的 PCs 中，纤维蛋白原明显富集，这反过来又加速了 NPs 被 TC 细胞内吞。此外，由于癌症患者和健康个体的 PCs 组成不同，两种研究群体中 NPs 进入 TC 细胞的摄取途径也有很大差异。此外，有趣的是，由临床病理状态引起的 PCs 的改变也被发现促进了 NPs 被人巨噬细胞吞噬，从而产生强烈的促炎作用，进而发挥促肿瘤作用。这些发现强调了考虑 NPs 及其与癌细胞相互作用的真实生物学特性的重要性，并指出了 NPs 暴露对人类致癌结果的影响。
