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Molecular mechanisms of nano-sized polystyrene plastics induced cytotoxicity and immunotoxicity in Eisenia fetida
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Researchers studied how polystyrene nanoplastics affect earthworm immune cells and found that exposure caused significant oxidative stress, DNA damage, and weakened immune function. The nanoplastics physically bound to and damaged lysozyme, a key immune protein, impairing the earthworms' ability to fight off infections. Since earthworms are essential soil organisms, this immune damage could have cascading effects on soil health and the agricultural systems that humans depend on.
Nanoplastics (NPs) are currently everywhere and environmental pollution by NPs is a pressing global problem. Nevertheless, until now, few studies have concentrated on the mechanisms and pathways of cytotoxic effects and immune dysfunction of NPs on soil organisms employing a multidimensional strategy. Hence, earthworm immune cells and immunity protein lysozyme (LZM) were selected as specific receptors to uncover the underlying mechanisms of cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and immunotoxicity resulting from exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs), and the binding mechanisms of PS-NPs-LZM interaction. Results on cells indicated that when earthworm immune cells were exposed to high-dose PS-NPs, it caused a notable rise in the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS), resulting in oxidative stress. PS-NPs exposure significantly decreased the cell viability of earthworm immune cells, inducing cytotoxicity through ROS-mediated oxidative stress pathway, and oxidative injury effects, including reduced antioxidant defenses, lipid peroxidation, DNA damage, and protein oxidation. Moreover, PS-NPs stress inhibited the intracellular LZM activity in immune cells, resulting in impaired immune function and immunotoxicity by activating the oxidative stress pathway mediated by ROS. The results from molecular studies revealed that PS-NPs binding destroyed the LZM structure and conformation, including secondary structure changes, protein skeleton unfolding/loosening, fluorescence sensitization, microenvironment changes, and particle size changes. Molecular docking suggested that PS-NPs combined with active center of LZM easier and inhibited the protein function more, and formed a hydrophobic interaction with TRP 62, a crucial amino acid residue closely associated with the function and conformation of LZM. This is also responsible for LZM conformational changes and functional inhibition /inactivation. These results of this research offer a fresh outlook on evaluating the detriment of NPs to the immune function of soil organisms using cellular and molecular strategies.
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Polystyrene Nanoplastics Elicit Multiple Responses in Immune Cells of the Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826)
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This study examined how nanoplastics from polystyrene affect the immune cells of earthworms, which play a critical role in soil ecosystems. Researchers found that the tiny plastic particles were taken up by the cells, triggered oxidative stress, weakened antioxidant defenses, destabilized cell membranes, and initiated early-stage cell death. The results provide cellular-level evidence that nanoplastic exposure poses ecological risks to soil-dwelling organisms.
Toxicological effects of polystyrene microplastics on earthworm (Eisenia fetida)
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Researchers exposed earthworms to two sizes of polystyrene microplastics in soil for 14 days and found evidence of intestinal cell damage, oxidative stress, and DNA damage. The larger particles accumulated more in earthworm intestines, while both sizes triggered changes in key antioxidant markers. The study demonstrates that microplastic contamination in soil can cause measurable biological harm to important soil organisms.
Microplastic pollution inhibits the phagocytosis of E. coli by earthworm immune cells in soil
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Researchers discovered that polystyrene microplastics inhibit the ability of earthworm immune cells to engulf bacteria through phagocytosis, both in laboratory tests and in soil experiments. The microplastics also caused mitochondrial damage in intestinal tissue and suppressed oxidative stress responses in immune cells. This is the first study to demonstrate that microplastic pollution in soil can compromise the immune defenses of earthworms, key organisms in soil ecosystem health.
Polystyrene nanoplastics and benzo[a]pyrene co-exposure differentially impacts earthworm intra- and extracellular lysozyme
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Researchers studied how polystyrene nanoplastics interact with the toxic pollutant benzo[a]pyrene in earthworms and found a surprising dual effect. At the cellular level, nanoplastics actually reduced oxidative stress caused by the pollutant alone, but at the molecular level they worked together to impair a key immune enzyme called lysozyme. The findings reveal that nanoplastics can simultaneously protect and harm organisms depending on the biological scale being examined.
Nanoplastics induces oxidative stress and triggers lysosome-associated immune-defensive cell death in the earthworm Eisenia fetida
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Researchers exposed earthworms to nanoplastics and found the tiny particles accumulated in their bodies, caused oxidative stress, and killed immune cells by rupturing their internal waste-processing structures (lysosomes). Positively charged nanoplastics were significantly more toxic than negatively charged ones. This study helps explain how nanoplastics damage living cells at a fundamental level, which is relevant to understanding their effects on any organism, including humans.
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