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  2. Polystyrene nanoplastics-induced lung apoptosis and ferroptosis via ROS-dependent endoplasmic reticulum stress

Polystyrene nanoplastics-induced lung apoptosis and ferroptosis via ROS-dependent endoplasmic reticulum stress

  • Sci Total Environ. 2023 Dec 10:912:169260. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169260.
Qiumei Wu 1 Chao Liu 1 Dan Liu 1 Yougang Wang 1 Haomin Qi 1 Xudong Liu 2 Yuchao Zhang 2 Haiyu Chen 1 Yan Zeng 3 Jinquan Li 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Brain Science and Advanced Technology Institute, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Hazard Identification and Control, School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430065, China.
  • 2 Department of Brewing Engineering, Moutai Institute, Renhuai 564507, China.
  • 3 Brain Science and Advanced Technology Institute, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Hazard Identification and Control, School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430065, China. Electronic address: yanzeng11@foxmail.com.
  • 4 Brain Science and Advanced Technology Institute, Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Hazard Identification and Control, School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430065, China. Electronic address: ljq0615@live.cn.
Abstract

It has been shown that exposure to nanoplastics (MNPs) through inhalation can induce pulmonary toxicity, but the toxicological mechanism of MNPs on the respiratory system remains unclear. Therefore, we explored the toxicological mechanism of exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) (0.05, 0.15, 0.2 mg/mL) on BEAS-2B cells. Results revealed that PS-NPs induce oxidative stress, increased Apoptosis rate measured by flow cytometry, the key Ferroptosis protein (GPX4 and FTH1) reduction, increased iron content, mitochondrial alterations, and increased malondialdehyde (MDA) level. Besides, consistent results were observed in mice exposed to PS-NPs (5 mg/kg/2d, 10 mg/kg/2d). Thus, we proved that PS-NPs induced cell death and lung damage through Apoptosis and Ferroptosis. In terms of mechanism, the elevation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress protein expression (IRE1α, PERK, XBP1S, and CHOP) revealed that PS-NPs induce lung damage by activating the two main ER stress pathways. Furthermore, the toxicological effects of PS-NPs observed in this study are attenuated by the ROS inhibitor N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Collectively, NPs-induced Apoptosis and Ferroptosis are attenuated by NAC via inhibiting the ROS-dependent ER stress in vitro and in vivo. This improves our understanding of the mechanism by which PS-NPs exposure leads to pulmonary injury and the potential protective effects of NAC.

Keywords

Apoptosis; Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress; Ferroptosis; Microplastics; Nanoplastics.

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