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Cellular internalization pathways of environmentally exposed microplastic particles: Phagocytosis or Macropinocytosis?
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Researchers investigated how eco-corona formation on environmentally exposed microplastic particles affects their cellular internalization pathways, examining whether particles coated with biomolecules from freshwater or saltwater are taken up by cells via phagocytosis or macropinocytosis, with findings showing that protein ligands in the eco-corona influence cell membrane receptor interactions and thus uptake mechanisms.
Microplastic particles (MP) are ubiquitous contaminants in all environmental compartments. Once they are exposed to environmental media like freshwater or saltwater, they interact with biomolecules, leading to the formation of an eco-corona. The composition of the eco-corona was described as a mixture of amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. The coating with an eco-corona affects the surface properties of MP, and consequently how they interact with cells. Proteins within the eco-corona may serve as a ligand driving the interaction of MP with cell membrane receptors. To date, it is not known, whether an eco-corona formed in different environmental media differ in its proteinaceous composition and therefore MP from different environments may differently interact with cells. Here, we show using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) that the eco-corona formed in freshwater and saltwater significantly differ in their protein composition. By using a microfluidic microscopy platform and optical tweezers, we observed no differences in the adhesion strength between cells and MP coated with different eco-coronas. However, the internalization probablility as well as the underlying internalization mechanisms significantly differed between MP coated with fresh- and salt water eco-coronas. We specifically inhibited actin-driven and receptor-mediated internalization processes using Cytochalasin-D, Amiloride, and Amantadine. We found that freshwater-incubated MPs seemed to be predominantly internalized by phagocytosis, while macropinocytosis is more important for the internalization of saltwater-incubated MPs. Overall, our findings show that the origin and composition of an eco-corona on the surface of MP are important factors for their cellular internalization, and therefore highlight their relevance for potentially adverse effects of environmentally relevant MP on cells and subsequently on organisms. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/559317/document
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