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Pristine and artificially-aged polystyrene microplastic particles differ in regard to cellular response
Journal of Hazardous Materials2022
83 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 60
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Matthias Völkl,
Nora Meides,
Alfons R. Weig,
Nora Meides,
Nora Meides,
Nora Meides,
Nora Meides,
Julia Jasinski,
Julia Jasinski,
Julia Jasinski,
Julia Jasinski,
Nora Meides,
Matthias Völkl,
Nora Meides,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Nora Meides,
Thomas Scheibel
Nora Meides,
Matthias Völkl,
Matthias Völkl,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Nora Meides,
Matthias Völkl,
Matthias Völkl,
Matthias Völkl,
Julia Jasinski,
Julia Jasinski,
Julia Jasinski,
Julia Jasinski,
Valérie Jérôme,
Nora Meides,
Nora Meides,
Nora Meides,
Nora Meides,
Alfons R. Weig,
Matthias Völkl,
Valérie Jérôme,
Valérie Jérôme,
Thomas Scheibel
Matthias Völkl,
Matthias Völkl,
Thomas Scheibel
Matthias Völkl,
Nora Meides,
Nora Meides,
Matthias Völkl,
Julia Jasinski,
Valérie Jérôme,
Valérie Jérôme,
Julia Jasinski,
Valérie Jérôme,
Valérie Jérôme,
Matthias Völkl,
Valérie Jérôme,
Julia Jasinski,
Julia Jasinski,
Nora Meides,
Alfons R. Weig,
Julia Jasinski,
Julia Jasinski,
Julia Jasinski,
Alfons R. Weig,
Nora Meides,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Nora Meides,
Nora Meides,
Thomas Scheibel
Alfons R. Weig,
Valérie Jérôme,
Peter Strohriegl,
Alfons R. Weig,
Valérie Jérôme,
Nora Meides,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Valérie Jérôme,
Valérie Jérôme,
Valérie Jérôme,
Thomas Scheibel
Peter Strohriegl,
Nora Meides,
Alfons R. Weig,
Alfons R. Weig,
Thomas Scheibel
Ruth Freitag,
Thomas Scheibel
Peter Strohriegl,
Ruth Freitag,
Peter Strohriegl,
Ruth Freitag,
Peter Strohriegl,
Thomas Scheibel
Thomas Scheibel
Ruth Freitag,
Thomas Scheibel
Alfons R. Weig,
Thomas Scheibel
Ruth Freitag,
Peter Strohriegl,
Alfons R. Weig,
Thomas Scheibel
Valérie Jérôme,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Alfons R. Weig,
Thomas Scheibel
Thomas Scheibel
Peter Strohriegl,
Peter Strohriegl,
Thomas Scheibel
Thomas Scheibel
Peter Strohriegl,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Ruth Freitag,
Peter Strohriegl,
Ruth Freitag,
Peter Strohriegl,
Thomas Scheibel
Thomas Scheibel
Summary
Researchers compared the cellular effects of pristine laboratory polystyrene microplastics with artificially aged particles that better represent real-world environmental conditions. They found that aged microplastics triggered different immune cell responses than pristine ones, including altered inflammatory signaling and uptake patterns. The study highlights that standard laboratory testing with new plastic particles may underestimate the actual biological effects of weathered microplastics found in the environment.
Microplastic particles (MP), arising from the gradual decomposition of plastics in the environment, have been identified as a global problem. Most investigations of MP cytotoxicity use pristine spherical particles available from commercial sources when evaluating their impact on mammalian cells, while only limited data is available for the more relevant "weathered microplastic". In this study, we exposed murine macrophages to polystyrene MP either after up to 130 days of accelerated ageing or in pristine condition. Weathered and pristine MP were physicochemically characterized, and their cytotoxicity was investigated using biological assays, transcriptome analysis, and metabolic pathways prediction. Whereas the response to pristine MP is mainly dominated by a TNF-α release, sharp-edged weathered MP induce broader adverse cellular reactions. This study stresses the importance of including more realistic test particles (e.g., weathered particles) in combination with a broad range of biological assays when evaluating the potential risk of microplastic exposure.