Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastic and Extracellular Vesicle Interactions: Recent Studies on Human Health and Environment Risks

This review explores the newly discovered relationship between microplastics and extracellular vesicles, tiny particles that cells use to communicate with each other. Evidence indicates that microplastics can alter how these vesicles are distributed and what molecular signals they carry, potentially disrupting normal cell communication. Understanding this interaction could provide important insights into how microplastic exposure may contribute to inflammation, metabolic changes, and other health effects.

2024 Biophysica 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Tumorigenic and tumoricidal properties of exosomes in cancers; a forward look

This review explores how tiny cell-released vesicles called exosomes can either promote or fight cancer by transferring signaling molecules between cells. While not directly about microplastics, the research is relevant because nanoplastics are similar in size to exosomes and may interfere with these important cell communication pathways. Understanding how nanoscale particles affect cell signaling could help explain some of the biological effects of nanoplastic exposure.

2024 Cell Communication and Signaling 15 citations
Article Tier 2

New insights into the potential effects of PET microplastics on organisms via extracellular vesicle-mediated communication

Researchers discovered that PET microplastics can be transported within the body through tiny cellular packages called extracellular vesicles, which cells naturally use to communicate with each other. They found that exposure to PET microplastics altered the content and behavior of these vesicles, potentially allowing plastic particles to reach tissues beyond the initial site of exposure. The study reveals a previously unknown biological pathway through which microplastics may spread their effects throughout organisms.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of microplastics in the tumor microenvironment (Review)

This review examines how microplastics may help tumors grow by influencing the environment around cancer cells. Microplastics can interact with immune cells, connective tissue cells, blood vessel cells, and the tissue scaffolding around tumors in ways that may promote cancer progression and inflammation. While more research is needed, the findings raise important questions about whether chronic microplastic exposure could affect cancer development in humans.

2025 Oncology Letters 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the impact of nanoplastics on bone microenvironment: focus on extracellular vesicle-mediated communication and oxidative stress in multiple myeloma.

This study reviewed how nanoplastic particles disrupt the bone microenvironment through oxidative stress and damage to the extracellular matrix. Reactive oxygen species generated by nanoplastic exposure were found to drive toxicity in bone cells.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Investigation of cell-to-cell transfer of polystyrene microplastics through extracellular vesicle-mediated communication

Scientists discovered that cells can transfer polystyrene microplastic particles to other cells through tiny membrane-enclosed packages called extracellular vesicles. This finding reveals a previously unknown mechanism for how microplastics could spread between cells in the body, potentially explaining how plastic particles move through tissues after initial exposure.

2024 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the impact of nanoplastics on bone microenvironment: focus on extracellular vesicle-mediated communication and oxidative stress in multiple myeloma.

Researchers reviewed how nanoplastics affect the bone microenvironment, focusing on oxidative stress pathways and extracellular matrix disruption as key mechanisms of toxicity. Reactive oxygen species generated by nanoplastic exposure were identified as drivers of bone cell damage.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Guidelines for the purification and characterization of extracellular vesicles of parasites

This paper provides guidelines for scientists studying extracellular vesicles released by parasites, which play roles in infection and immune evasion. While not about microplastics, the standardized methods described here for isolating and analyzing tiny biological particles are relevant to microplastics research, where similar techniques are needed to study how nanoplastics interact with cells. Better laboratory standards across these fields help improve the quality of research on tiny particle exposure and health effects.

2023 Journal of Extracellular Biology 34 citations
Article Tier 2

The Impact of Microplastics on Biological Systems: A Focus on Extracellular Vesicles and miRNA Profiles

This review examines how microplastics affect biological systems with a focus on extracellular vesicles, discussing how MP exposure alters vesicle release and composition in ways that may propagate cellular stress signals throughout tissues and contribute to systemic health effects.

2025 Universal Research Reports
Article Tier 2

Tumour-associated macrophages: versatile players in the tumour microenvironment

This review explores tumour-associated macrophages, immune cells that play complex and sometimes contradictory roles in cancer, both helping tumours grow and fighting them. Researchers describe newly discovered behaviors of these cells, including their ability to transform into other cell types. The study highlights the potential of targeting these macrophages as a strategy in cancer immunotherapy.

2023 Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Distinct targeting and uptake of platelet and red blood cell‐derived extracellular vesicles into immune cells

This study examined how tiny vesicles (small bubble-like particles) released by platelets and red blood cells interact with immune cells. Platelet-derived vesicles were taken up by certain immune cells much faster than red blood cell vesicles, and neither type affected T-cells. While not directly about microplastics, the research is relevant because it helps scientists understand how small particles in the blood, including nanoplastics, might interact with the immune system.

2024 Journal of Extracellular Biology 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Intratumoural microbiota: from theory to clinical application

Researchers reviewed how bacteria living inside tumors — called intratumoural microbiota — influence cancer development, immune responses, and treatment outcomes. They highlight that while some tumor-resident microbes drive cancer progression by damaging DNA and disrupting immune signaling, engineered bacteria could be harnessed as novel therapeutic tools to target tumors directly.

2023 Cell Communication and Signaling 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics and Immunity: Investigating the Extracellular Matrix’s Influence on Macrophage Interaction with Polystyrene Nanoparticles

Researchers investigated how extracellular matrix components affect macrophage uptake of polystyrene nanoplastics, finding that the surrounding matrix modulates nanoplastic-immune cell interactions — with implications for understanding how nanoplastics evade or engage the innate immune response.

2025 Journal of Biological Research - Bollettino della Società Italiana di Biologia Sperimentale
Article Tier 2

Investigation of Cell-to-cell Transfer of Polystyrene Microplastics Through Extracellular Vesicle-mediated Communication

Researchers investigated cell-to-cell transfer of polystyrene microplastics through extracellular vesicles, finding that cells can package and transfer plastic particles via vesicle-mediated pathways, a previously unrecognized route for intracellular plastic dissemination.

2024
Article Tier 2

Extracellular vesicles as mediators of metabolomic changes in response to PET microplastics

Researchers fed piglets PET microplastics (a common plastic used in food packaging) and found that the particles changed the chemical signals carried by extracellular vesicles, which are tiny messengers that cells use to communicate with each other. The altered signals disrupted fat processing, energy production, sugar metabolism, and hormone production. This reveals a previously unknown way that microplastics could cause widespread disruption throughout the body.

2025 Environmental Pollution 6 citations
Article Tier 2

The quest for nanoparticle-powered vaccines in cancer immunotherapy

This review explores how nanoparticles are being developed as cancer vaccine delivery systems to train the immune system to fight tumors more effectively. While focused on cancer immunotherapy rather than microplastics, the research highlights that understanding how nanoparticles interact with the immune system is crucial -- the same principles apply to understanding how nanoplastics may affect immune responses in the body.

2024 Journal of Nanobiotechnology 46 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection and quantification of microplastics in various types of human tumor tissues

Researchers detected microplastics in 43% of tumor samples across lung, gastric, colorectal, cervical, and pancreatic cancers, with polystyrene, PVC, and polyethylene being the types found. In pancreatic tumors, microplastic presence was associated with fewer immune cells that fight cancer and more immune cells linked to tumor progression, suggesting microplastics may create conditions that help tumors evade the immune system.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 62 citations
Article Tier 2

Reversing the immunosuppressive microenvironment with reduced redox level by microwave-chemo-immunostimulant Ce–Mn MOF for improved immunotherapy

Researchers developed a nanoparticle-based treatment that combines microwave energy, chemotherapy, and immune activation to reverse the protective environment that tumors create to hide from the immune system. In animal experiments, this combined approach significantly increased immune cell infiltration into tumors and improved the body's ability to fight cancer beyond the treated area.

2022 Journal of Nanobiotechnology 20 citations
Article Tier 2

International Society for Extracellular Vesicles workshop. QuantitatEVs: Multiscale analyses, from bulk to single extracellular vesicle

This workshop report summarizes discussions among scientists about improving methods for measuring and analyzing extracellular vesicles, which are tiny particles released by cells. Researchers explored strategies for standardizing both laboratory techniques and computational approaches, from bulk samples down to individual vesicles. The report identifies key challenges and emerging technologies needed to advance this rapidly growing field of biomedical research.

2024 Journal of Extracellular Biology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

[Effects and Mechanisms of Polystyrene Microplastics on Extracellular Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Wastewater].

This Chinese-language study reviewed the effects and mechanisms of polystyrene microplastics on extracellular vesicle production and composition, examining how microplastic exposure alters cell-to-cell communication pathways. The research contributes to understanding subcellular responses to microplastic exposure in biological systems.

2024 PubMed