Simpson Kayla, Martin Leisha, O'Leary Shamus L, Watt John, Moon Seunghyun, Luo Tengfei, Xu Wei
Department of Life Sciences, College of Science, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA.
Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA.
J Hazard Mater. 2025 Aug 15;494:138722. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.138722. Epub 2025 May 26.
The surface of nanoplastic particles (NPs) in the aquatic environment is always modified by organic matter in water, including protein components. The modifications are likely to affect interactions at the nano-bio interface, leading to an altered cellular response in humans. This study aimed to identify the changes in skin cell responses to the NPs conditioned by the proteins in natural seawater. The NPs were first conditioned by natural seawater, allowing an environmental corona to develop on the surface of the NPs. This was confirmed by electron microscopy. The cell internalization pathways of NPs with or without environmental corona were identified on skin keratinocytes and fibroblast cells by selective blockage of one of the four classic cell endocytic pathways. The intracellular locations of those NPs in keratinocytes and fibroblasts were demonstrated by co-localization of the particles and cell organelles. We also determined the genetic response of the keratinocytes to the environmentally conditioned NPs. The results showed that new internalization pathways by keratinocytes and fibroblast cells were activated by the environmental corona on NPs compared to the original NPs without surface corona. The surface corona of NPs also altered the NPs' intracellular locations in both keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The internalization of NPs with environmental corona induced the production of toll-like receptor 4, tumor necrosis factor alpha, cyclooxygenase-2, and interleukin 8 in keratinocytes. Since these factors are all involved in inflammatory responses and immune cell regulation, they can potentially trigger proinflammatory and chemotactic effects in human skin.
水生环境中纳米塑料颗粒（NPs）的表面总是被水中的有机物修饰，包括蛋白质成分。这些修饰可能会影响纳米-生物界面的相互作用，从而导致人类细胞反应发生改变。本研究旨在确定皮肤细胞对天然海水中蛋白质处理过的纳米塑料颗粒的反应变化。首先用天然海水处理纳米塑料颗粒，使其表面形成环境冠层。这一点通过电子显微镜得到了证实。通过选择性阻断四种经典细胞内吞途径之一，在皮肤角质形成细胞和成纤维细胞上确定了有无环境冠层的纳米塑料颗粒的细胞内化途径。通过颗粒与细胞器的共定位，证明了这些纳米塑料颗粒在角质形成细胞和成纤维细胞内的位置。我们还确定了角质形成细胞对经环境处理的纳米塑料颗粒的基因反应。结果表明，与没有表面冠层的原始纳米塑料颗粒相比，角质形成细胞和成纤维细胞通过纳米塑料颗粒上的环境冠层激活了新的内化途径。纳米塑料颗粒的表面冠层也改变了纳米塑料颗粒在角质形成细胞和成纤维细胞内的位置。带有环境冠层的纳米塑料颗粒的内化诱导了角质形成细胞中Toll样受体4、肿瘤坏死因子α、环氧化酶-2和白细胞介素8的产生。由于这些因子都参与炎症反应和免疫细胞调节，它们可能会在人体皮肤中引发促炎和趋化作用。
