Assessment of microplastic toxicity on blood-testis barrier using 3D cell spheroids

IF 6.1 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety Pub Date : 2025-09-18 DOI:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.119062

Yucheng Liu , Chunyuan Du , Hanjing Li , Liqun Wang , Yuan Zhu , Fanrong Ai , Kui Zhou

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Industrial production generates large quantities of microplastics (MPs), which can significantly impact ecosystems and pose potential risks to human health, both directly and indirectly, and the mechanisms and potential toxicity of microplastics affecting the reproductive system remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxicity of microplastics on the blood-testis barrier using 3D Sertoli cell spheroids (TM4S) exposed to artificially manufactured primary polystyrene microplastics (MPS). To investigate these effects, we explored the invasiveness of MPS in relation to microplastic size and concentration, and analyzed morphological changes in the cell spheroids. In addition, we evaluated changes in cellular physiological activities. Finally, we detected pathways related to endoplasmic reticulum stress in Sertoli cells (TM4), and revealed that exposure to MPS triggered endoplasmic reticulum stress in TM4S. This model has the potential to deepen our understanding on the microplastic-reproduction interaction and the underlying toxicity mechanisms of microplastics in the reproductive system.

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用三维细胞球评价微塑性对血睾丸屏障的毒性。

工业生产产生大量微塑料，可对生态系统产生重大影响，并对人类健康构成直接和间接的潜在风险，而微塑料影响生殖系统的机制和潜在毒性尚不清楚。在这项研究中，我们研究了微塑料对血睾丸屏障的细胞毒性，使用3D支持细胞球体（TM4S）暴露于人工制造的初级聚苯乙烯微塑料（MPS）。为了研究这些影响，我们探讨了MPS的侵袭性与微塑料大小和浓度的关系，并分析了细胞球体的形态学变化。此外，我们还评估了细胞生理活动的变化。最后，我们检测了与支持细胞（TM4）内质网应激相关的通路，发现MPS暴露会触发TM4S内质网应激。该模型有可能加深我们对微塑料与生殖系统相互作用以及微塑料在生殖系统中潜在毒性机制的理解。

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

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 环境科学-毒理学

CiteScore

12.10

自引率

5.90%

发文量

1234

审稿时长

88 days

期刊介绍： Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety is a multi-disciplinary journal that focuses on understanding the exposure and effects of environmental contamination on organisms including human health. The scope of the journal covers three main themes. The topics within these themes, indicated below, include (but are not limited to) the following: Ecotoxicology、Environmental Chemistry、Environmental Safety etc.