Raman-spektroskopische Charakterisierung von Zellen und Gewebe nach Exposition mit Nanoplastik

This bachelor thesis covers the exposure of nanoplastic particles to human cells, and the characteristic properties of these nanoplastic particles that are investigated by Raman micro-spectroscopy and preprocessed by data analysis. A human monocytic cell (THP-1), trophoblasts, and placenta cells were exposed to primary and secondary nanoplastic at concentrations of 100 nanoplastic particles/cell and sizes of 200 nm and 60 nm, respectively. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to locate fluorescent primary nanoparticles after exposure. The contents of the cells were then analyzed using Raman micro-spectroscopy. First, the findings show that the ability of Raman micro-spectroscopy to characterize primary nanoplastics within cells was successful. Polystyrene has a large peak at 1000 cm-1 that was detected within human monocytic cells. However, the secondary nanoplastics were found outside of the trophoblast cells, indicating that their size was likely too large for cell accumulation. As a consequence, the size and concentration of nanoplastics play an important role in Raman micro-spectroscopy within cells.