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Nanoplastic–Biomolecular Interactions
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This review examines how nanoplastics interact with the biomolecules of living organisms — including proteins, DNA, lipids, and cellular membranes — and how these interactions drive biological harm at the molecular level. Understanding nanoplastic-biomolecule interactions is foundational to explaining why plastic particles at the nanoscale may pose greater health risks than larger microplastics, since they can penetrate cell membranes and reach intracellular targets.
The global-scale production of plastics has been instrumental for sustaining the modern way of life, while the accumulation of plastics in landfills, oceans, and any other environment has become a major stressor for environmental sustainability, climate, and, potentially, human health [...]
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This review examines how nanoplastic particles interact with proteins at the cellular and molecular level, disrupting normal protein function and triggering oxidative stress, DNA damage, and cell death. Researchers found that nanoplastics alter the structural shape of important proteins, which helps explain their toxic effects on living organisms. The study also covers how understanding these protein-plastic interactions could inform both toxicity assessment and potential enzymatic plastic degradation strategies.
Nanoplastics as a return to the prebiotic dimensional regime: A dimensional perspective on interactions with biological membranes
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Nanoplastics as a return to the prebiotic dimensional regime: A dimensional perspective on interactions with biological membranes
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This conceptual paper argues that nanoplastics are environmentally significant not primarily because of chemical toxicity, but because their nanoscale dimensions place them in the same physical regime as prebiotic structures that interact directly with biological membranes. The author proposes that membrane disruption, rather than chemical toxicity, is the key mechanism of nanoplastic harm.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.