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Article ? AI-assigned paper type based on the abstract. Classification may not be perfect — flag errors using the feedback button. Tier 2 ? Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence. Detection Methods Environmental Sources Human Health Effects Marine & Wildlife Nanoplastics Sign in to save

Molecular toxicity of nanoplastics involving in oxidative stress and desoxyribonucleic acid damage

Journal of Molecular Recognition 2019 64 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 45 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Tongtong Zheng, Yuan Dong, Chunguang Liu

Summary

This review examines the molecular mechanisms by which nanoplastics induce oxidative stress and DNA damage in biological systems, synthesizing findings from cell culture and animal studies. The evidence suggests that nanoplastics can cause genotoxic effects at the cellular level, which is relevant to understanding potential long-term health risks of chronic nanoplastic exposure.

Microplastic pollution attracted extensive attention because of its global presence and adverse effects on ecosystem. However, it is insufficient to clear the effects of nanoplastics on organisms at the molecular level. Herein, a nanopolystyrene (50 nm) was used to examine molecular responses of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) using spectroscopy (UV-vis, circular dichroism spectra, and fluorescence measurements) and single cell gel electrophoresis methods. Results showed that nanopolystyrene induced oxidative stress, involving in the increase of SOD activity and malondialdehide (MDA) content, and DNA damage because of the significant increase of olive tail moment, head optical density, and tail DNA percentage in the groups at exposure concentrations above 5 × 10-6 mol/L. The second structural and microenvironment of aromatic amino acids of SOD were changed with nanopolystyrene exposure. The fluorescence of SOD was quenched by nanopolystyrene at exposure concentration above 1 × 10-5 mol/L, and the quenching mode could be ascribed to the static type. The results and the combined methods are favorable to explore the molecular toxicity of other nanoplastics and the interaction mechanism.

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