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Exposure to Nanoplastics Disrupts Neurotransmitter Release in Rat Hippocampal Neurons
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Researchers exposed rat hippocampal neurons to polystyrene nanoplastics and measured neurotransmitter release using electrophysiology. Nanoplastic exposure disrupted synaptic transmission by impairing calcium-dependent neurotransmitter release at hippocampal synapses, providing direct evidence of nanoplastic interference with the neural signaling machinery involved in memory and cognition.
Plastics are used broadly for various applications, and their degradation and fragmentation have led to widespread accumulation of nanoplastics in the environment. Although nanoplastics are ubiquitous and intractable in the environment and in organisms, their potential health impacts remain unclear. Emerging evidence showed that nanoplastics can cross the blood–brain barrier and accumulate in the brain. However, the effects of nanoplastics on neuronal health and functions in the brain are poorly understood. Here, we examined the effects of nanoplastic exposure on neurotransmitter release by measuring FM 4-64 (a lipophilic styryl dye) release from synaptic vesicles during electrical stimulation after exposing rat hippocampal neurons to 1–10 μg/mL of fluorescent polystyrene nanoplastics with an average diameter of 42 nm. We found that nanoplastics accumulated in the presynaptic terminal of hippocampal neurons and reduced stimulation-induced FM 4-64 release in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, nanoplastics decreased Ca2+ elevation in the presynaptic terminal of hippocampal neurons during electrical stimulation. Our results suggest that accumulated nanoplastics in the brain can impair neuronal functions by disrupting neurotransmitter release and Ca2+ dynamics in the presynaptic terminal of neurons, which could eventually lead to neurodegeneration.
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Effects of Short-Term Exposure to Polystyrene Nanoplastics on the Nervous System: Calcium Homeostasis, BDNF and Synaptic Plasticity
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Researchers exposed co-cultured hippocampal neurons and astrocytes to polystyrene nanoplastics and investigated their effects on synaptic plasticity. The study found that nanoplastics may interfere with calcium ion signaling and reduce CaMKII activity, which subsequently downregulates CREB and BDNF expression, suggesting a potential mechanism by which nanoplastics could affect learning and memory processes.
Direct Quantification of Nanoplastics Neurotoxicity by Single‐Vesicle Electrochemistry
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Using single-vesicle electrochemistry, this study provides the first direct measurement of how nanoplastics disrupt neurotransmitter release at the level of individual nerve cells. Polystyrene nanoplastics taken up by neurons disrupted the cellular machinery controlling how vesicles fuse and release catecholamines (like dopamine and norepinephrine), reducing both the amount of neurotransmitter released and the frequency of release events. These findings are concerning because they suggest nanoplastic exposure could interfere with normal brain signaling at concentrations that don't immediately kill cells.
Direct Quantification of Nanoplastics Neurotoxicity by Single‐Vesicle Electrochemistry
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Using a precise electrochemical technique to measure individual brain cell vesicles, researchers provided the first direct evidence that nanoplastics disrupt how neurons store and release chemical messengers. Nanoplastic exposure reduced the amount of neurotransmitters in cell vesicles and impaired the process of releasing them during signaling. The study offers a detailed molecular-level look at how nanoplastics may interfere with brain cell communication.
Sulfate-modified nanosized polystyrene impairs memory by inhibiting ionotropic glutamate receptors and the cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans
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Researchers found that sulfate-modified polystyrene nanoplastics impair both short- and long-term associative memory in C. elegans by downregulating ionotropic glutamate receptors and the CREB signaling pathway — conserved molecular mechanisms that also underlie learning and memory in mammals — raising concerns about nanoplastic effects on cognition.
Nanoplastics-induced neurotoxicity: neurovascular dysfunction, cognitive impairment, and mechanisms of cell death.
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This review summarizes existing research on how tiny plastic particles called nanoplastics may affect the brain. Studies in lab models suggest these particles can disrupt the brain's protective barrier, trigger cell stress and death, and interfere with brain cell communication, which researchers link to memory and behavior problems in experimental models.
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