Human neurons are susceptible to the internalization of small-sized nanoplastics

IF 4.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental toxicology and pharmacology Pub Date : 2025-07-29 DOI:10.1016/j.etap.2025.104776

Tomohiro Ito , Yudai Ikuno , Osamu Udagawa , Kosuke Tanaka , Yoshika Kurokawa , Masaki Kakeyama , Fumihiko Maekawa

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Environmental pollution caused by small plastics has become a social concern due to growing awareness of their adverse impacts on organisms, including humans. While the brain has been identified as a major site of small plastic accumulation, fundamental information about their impacts at the cellular level remains limited. In this study, we investigated the neuronal uptake and toxicity of nanoplastics using the human neurons (LUHMES). LUHMES cells internalized polystyrene (PS) nanoplastics with a preference for 50 nm particles, mainly through clathrin-mediated endocytosis and macropinocytosis. However, PS uptake by LUHMES cells was lower than that by other neural cell types. PS nanoparticles were predominantly localized in lysosomes and minimally in mitochondria. On the other hand, PS nanoparticles had no obvious effects on acute cytotoxicity, neurite outgrowth, and oxidative stress. This study provides essential data on the neuronal responses to nanoplastics and highlights the need for further evaluation of their neurodevelopmental impact.

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人类神经元容易受到小尺寸纳米塑料内在化的影响。

由于人们越来越意识到小塑料对包括人类在内的生物的不利影响，小塑料造成的环境污染已经成为一个社会关注的问题。虽然大脑已被确定为小塑料堆积的主要场所，但关于它们在细胞水平上的影响的基本信息仍然有限。在这项研究中，我们利用人类神经元（LUHMES）研究了纳米塑料的神经元摄取和毒性。LUHMES细胞主要通过网格蛋白介导的内吞作用和巨胞吞作用内化聚苯乙烯（PS）纳米塑料，并偏爱50nm颗粒。然而，LUHMES细胞对PS的摄取低于其他类型的神经细胞。PS纳米颗粒主要定位在溶酶体中，很少定位在线粒体中。另一方面，PS纳米颗粒对急性细胞毒性、神经突生长和氧化应激无明显影响。本研究为神经元对纳米塑料的反应提供了必要的数据，并强调了进一步评估其神经发育影响的必要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Environmental toxicology and pharmacology 医学-毒理学

CiteScore

7.00

自引率

4.70%

发文量

185

审稿时长

34 days

期刊介绍： Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology publishes the results of studies concerning toxic and pharmacological effects of (human and veterinary) drugs and of environmental contaminants in animals and man. Areas of special interest are: molecular mechanisms of toxicity, biotransformation and toxicokinetics (including toxicokinetic modelling), molecular, biochemical and physiological mechanisms explaining differences in sensitivity between species and individuals, the characterisation of pathophysiological models and mechanisms involved in the development of effects and the identification of biological markers that can be used to study exposure and effects in man and animals. In addition to full length papers, short communications, full-length reviews and mini-reviews, Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology will publish in depth assessments of special problem areas. The latter publications may exceed the length of a full length paper three to fourfold. A basic requirement is that the assessments are made under the auspices of international groups of leading experts in the fields concerned. The information examined may either consist of data that were already published, or of new data that were obtained within the framework of collaborative research programmes. Provision is also made for the acceptance of minireviews on (classes of) compounds, toxicities or mechanisms, debating recent advances in rapidly developing fields that fall within the scope of the journal.