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Parental polystyrene nanoplastics exposure increases susceptibility to pathogen infection in offspring via H3K36me3-UPRER-collagen pathway
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Scientists exposed tiny worms to plastic nanoparticles and found that not only did the exposed worms become more vulnerable to dangerous infections, but their children and grandchildren were also more likely to get sick. The plastic particles weakened the immune system by changing how genes work, and these changes were passed down through generations even though the offspring were never directly exposed to the plastic. This research suggests that today's plastic pollution could be making future generations more susceptible to infections through inherited genetic changes.
Plastic pollution, particularly nanoplastics, poses a serious threat to the health of humans and wildlife. Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model, we found that exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) at 1000 μg/L for 48 h significantly reduced survival upon Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14 infection in the parental generation (P0), with a 42.74% decline. Notably, this impaired immunity was also observed in the first filial generation (F1) and second filial generation (F2), where survival decreased by 31.27% and 19.55%, respectively. This transgenerational decline in innate immunity was not attributable to residual nanoplastics in the progeny but was mediated through H3K36me3-dependent epigenetic regulation. Mechanistically, PS-NPs suppressed the endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response (UPRER), particularly the IRE-1/XBP-1 pathway, and downregulated collagen-related genes, thereby compromising epithelial defenses. ChIP-qPCR and Western blotting further confirmed reduced H3K36me3 enrichment on UPRER and collagen gene promoters. Importantly, this epigenetic inheritance occurred independently of small RNAs or N6-mA DNA methylation. Collectively, these findings reveal an unrecognized mechanism by which nanoplastic exposure weakens immunity across generations through histone modification, underscoring the long-term biological risks posed by environmental nanoplastics.
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Parental exposure to nanoplastics and offspring sensitivity to environmental contamination: A case study with polystyrene
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Researchers exposed polychaete worms (Hediste diversicolor) to 100 nm polystyrene nanoplastics for 28 days, induced reproduction, raised offspring for six months, then challenged those offspring with arsenic at 0 and 50 and 250 µg/L to test whether parental nanoplastic exposure altered offspring sensitivity to a co-contaminant. Offspring of nanoplastic-exposed parents showed elevated antioxidant enzyme activity, including superoxide dismutase and glutathione S-transferase, suggesting parental exposure can modulate the toxicological response of subsequent generations.
Parental Exposure to Nanoplastics and Graphene Oxide Induces Transgenerational Toxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans
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Scientists exposed tiny worms to nanoplastics and graphene oxide (materials found in plastic pollution and some industrial products) and found the damage—cell stress that harms growth, movement, and reproduction—was passed down to offspring who were never directly exposed. While this study was done in worms, not humans, it raises concerns that plastic pollution exposure could have effects that ripple into future generations, which is important as we consider the real-world health impact of ever-increasing plastic waste in our environment.
Transgenerational neurotoxicity of polystyrene microplastics induced by oxidative stress in Caenorhabditis elegans
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Researchers exposed the roundworm C. elegans to polystyrene microplastics and tracked the effects across five generations. They found that microplastic exposure caused nerve damage and oxidative stress that persisted in offspring even when those generations were not directly exposed, suggesting microplastics can have lasting effects passed down through generations.
Polystyrene nanoparticles cause dynamic alteration in mitochondrial unfolded protein response from parents to the offspring in C. elegans
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Researchers investigated how polystyrene nanoparticles affect the mitochondrial stress response across generations in C. elegans nematodes. The study found that nanoparticle exposure suppressed the mitochondrial unfolded protein response in a dose-dependent manner from parents through to the second offspring generation, indicating that parental plastic exposure can compromise the cellular stress defenses of future generations.
Photoaged Polystyrene Nanoplastics Result in Transgenerational Reproductive Toxicity Associated with the Methylation of Histone H3K4 and H3K9 in Caenorhabditis elegans
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When roundworms were exposed to sun-aged polystyrene nanoplastics at environmentally relevant levels, the reproductive damage passed down to unexposed future generations through changes in gene-regulating chemical marks called histone methylation. Sun-aged nanoplastics caused more severe fertility problems than fresh ones, and these effects persisted for two generations after exposure stopped. This study is alarming because it shows nanoplastic exposure could cause hereditary reproductive harm without changing DNA itself.
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