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Polyethylene terephthalate nanoplastics cause oxidative stress induced cell death in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Summary
Researchers created the smallest PET nanoplastics tested so far (56 nanometers, from the same plastic used in water bottles) and found they killed yeast cells by triggering oxidative stress and programmed cell death. The nanoplastics caused damage to cell membranes and increased the expression of stress-response genes. While conducted in yeast rather than human cells, the study demonstrates that PET nanoplastics at very small sizes are biologically active and can cause cellular damage, raising concerns about their effects in the human body.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a common plastic widely used in food and beverage packaging that poses a serious risk to human health and the environment due to the continual rise in its production and usage. After being produced and used, PET accumulates in the environment and breaks down into nanoplastics (NPs), which are then consumed by humans through water and food sources. The threats to human health and the environment posed by PET-NPs are of great concern worldwide, yet little is known about their biological impacts. Herein, the smallest sized PET-NPs so far (56 nm) with an unperturbed PET structure were produced by a modified dilution-precipitation method and their potential cytotoxicity was evaluated in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Exposure to PET-NPs decreased cell viability due to oxidative stress induction revealed by the increased expression levels of stress response related-genes as well as increased lipid peroxidation. Cell death induced by PET-NP exposure was mainly through apoptosis, while autophagy had a protective role.