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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Enhanced MacrophageInternalization of Photoaged NanoplasticsMediated by Altered Serum Albumin Secondary Structure
ClearEnhanced Macrophage Internalization of Photoaged Nanoplastics Mediated by Altered Serum Albumin Secondary Structure
Researchers found that nanoplastics exposed to sunlight in water undergo surface changes that alter how they interact with blood proteins, specifically human serum albumin. The aged nanoplastics caused the protein to unfold and change its structure, which in turn made immune cells take up the plastic particles more readily. The study suggests that environmental aging of nanoplastics could increase their biological activity and potential health effects once they enter the body.
Combined effects of photoaging and natural organic matter on the colloidal stability of nanoplastics in aquatic environments
Researchers found that photoaging of polystyrene nanoplastics alters how natural organic matter interacts with their surfaces — reducing humic acid adsorption while increasing protein adsorption — with downstream effects on the nanoplastics' stability and transport in aquatic environments.
Aging Processes Dramatically Alter the Protein Corona Constitution, Cellular Internalization, and Cytotoxicity of Polystyrene Nanoplastics
Researchers found that aging processes such as UV and ozone exposure dramatically alter how polystyrene nanoplastics interact with blood plasma proteins, form protein coronas, and enter cells. The study suggests that environmentally aged nanoplastics may have different biological effects than pristine particles, which has important implications for accurately assessing the health risks of real-world nanoplastic exposure.
Aging of Nanoplastics Significantly Affects Protein Corona Composition Thus Enhancing Macrophage Uptake
Researchers found that when nanoplastics age in the environment through sun exposure, they form a different coating of proteins when they enter the human body compared to fresh nanoplastics. This altered protein coating caused lung immune cells to absorb the aged nanoplastics more readily than new ones. The findings suggest that real-world nanoplastics, which are mostly sun-weathered, may be taken up by the body more aggressively than the fresh particles typically used in lab studies.
Macrophage cytoskeletal and immune responses to photoaged and gastrointestinal-transformed polylactic acid micro/nanoplastics with protein corona
Researchers found that UV photoaging and simulated gastrointestinal digestion shrank polylactic acid micro/nanoplastics to one-third their original size and shifted their surface protein corona from lipoprotein-binding to complement and coagulation proteins, yet both pristine and aged particles consistently disrupted the cytoskeleton of human macrophages and triggered formation of macrophage extracellular traps.
Uptake of Breathable Nano- and Micro-Sized Polystyrene Particles: Comparison of Virgin and Oxidised nPS/mPS in Human Alveolar Cells
Researchers compared uptake of virgin and oxidized polystyrene nano- and microparticles in human lung cells, finding that photoaged particles showed altered surface chemistry and different cellular internalization patterns relevant to realistic airborne microplastic exposure.
Nanoplastics alter the conformation and activity of human serum albumin
Researchers investigated how polystyrene nanoplastics interact with human serum albumin, a key blood protein, and found that nanoplastics bind to the protein through hydrophobic forces, altering its structure and reducing its enzymatic activity. The study suggests that nanoplastic exposure could interfere with normal protein function in the bloodstream, highlighting the need for regulation of nanoplastics in consumer products.
Adsorption of clarithromycin on polystyrene nanoplastics surface and its combined adverse effect on serum albumin
Researchers examined how the antibiotic clarithromycin binds to the surface of polystyrene nanoplastics and how this combination interacts with blood proteins. They found that the drug readily adsorbed onto the nanoplastic surface and that the drug-nanoplastic complex altered the structure and function of serum albumin more than either substance alone. The findings suggest that nanoplastics could amplify the biological effects of pharmaceutical pollutants by acting as carriers in the body.
The in vitro gastrointestinal digestion-associated protein corona of polystyrene nano- and microplastics increases their uptake by human THP-1-derived macrophages
When polystyrene nano- and microplastics pass through simulated gastrointestinal digestion, they acquire a coating of gut proteins — a 'protein corona' — that dramatically increases their uptake by human immune cells (macrophages), boosting internalization of small neutral particles by up to six-fold compared to undigested plastic. The identity of the proteins driving this effect, including clotting factors and apolipoproteins, suggests that realistic dietary exposure conditions substantially change how microplastics interact with the body, and that lab tests using undigested plastics likely underestimate actual cellular uptake.
The weakened physiological functions of human serum albumin in presence of polystyrene nanoplastics
Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics interfere with human serum albumin, the most abundant protein in blood that performs critical functions like transporting substances and acting as an enzyme. The nanoplastics reduced the protein's enzyme activity and altered its ability to transport chemicals like bisphenol A. This study provides evidence that once nanoplastics enter the human bloodstream, they could disrupt important blood protein functions with potential health consequences.
Compromised Autophagic Effect of Polystyrene Nanoplastics Mediated by Protein Corona Was Recovered after Lysosomal Degradation of Corona
Researchers discovered that when polystyrene nanoplastics enter biological environments, proteins coat their surface forming a protective corona that initially reduces their toxic effects on cells. However, once cells internalize the particles and break down the protein layer in lysosomes, the original toxicity returns, including blocked autophagy and lysosomal damage. The study reveals that protein coronas temporarily mask nanoplastic toxicity rather than permanently neutralizing it.
Photoaging-induced variations in heteroaggregation of nanoplastics and suspended sediments in aquatic environments: A case study on nanopolystyrene
Researchers investigated how photoaging affects the aggregation behavior of polystyrene nanoplastics with suspended sediments in water. They found that 30 days of photoaging retarded aggregation in sodium chloride solutions due to steric hindrance from leached organic matter, but promoted aggregation in calcium chloride solutions through calcium bridging of newly formed oxygen-containing surface groups. The study provides mechanistic insights into how environmental weathering changes the transport and fate of nanoplastics in aquatic systems.
The crucial role of a protein corona in determining the aggregation kinetics and colloidal stability of polystyrene nanoplastics
Time-resolved dynamic light scattering was used to study how protein coronas — protein layers that form on nanoplastics in biological or environmental fluids — control the aggregation kinetics and colloidal stability of polystyrene nanoplastics. Protein identity and concentration profoundly shifted nanoplastic behavior, with implications for how these particles move and persist in natural water systems.
Effects of photoaged polystyrene microplastics and nanoplastics on the extracellular aggregation and intracellular accumulation of ZnO nanoparticles to algae
When microplastics weather in the environment under UV sunlight, they become more chemically reactive and change how they interact with other pollutants. This study found that photoaged polystyrene microplastics and nanoplastics had a stronger ability to bind zinc oxide nanoparticles than fresh plastic, and that this enhanced binding altered how the zinc nanoparticles affected green algae — generally reducing zinc uptake into algal cells but increasing overall ecological risk. The findings highlight that the environmental "aging" of microplastics is not merely cosmetic — it fundamentally changes their behavior as carriers of other toxic substances in aquatic ecosystems.
Influence of protein configuration on aggregation kinetics of nanoplastics in aquatic environment
Researchers investigated how five different proteins with varying structures affect the aggregation behavior of polystyrene nanoplastics in water under different ionic strength and pH conditions. They found that protein type and configuration significantly influenced whether nanoplastics clumped together or remained dispersed, with globular proteins like albumin having different effects than fibrous proteins like collagen. The study suggests that the protein composition of natural waters plays an important role in determining how nanoplastics behave and transport in aquatic environments.
Protein Corona-Directed Cellular Recognition and Uptake of Polyethylene Nanoplastics by Macrophages
Scientists discovered that when polyethylene nanoplastics enter the bloodstream, they quickly become coated with blood proteins, and this protein coating determines how immune cells recognize and respond to them. High-density and low-density polyethylene attracted different protein coatings, leading to different immune responses from macrophages. This research helps explain how nanoplastics interact with the immune system once they enter the human body, which is key to understanding their potential health effects.
Binding of Tetrabromobisphenol A and S to Human Serum Albumin Is Weakened by Coexisting Nanoplastics and Environmental Kosmotropes
Researchers studied how polystyrene nanoplastics interact with human serum albumin and brominated flame retardants (TBBPA and TBBPS) under various conditions. The study found that while the protein helped disperse nanoplastics alone, adding flame retardants promoted aggregate formation, with environmental salt conditions further influencing these interactions. These findings suggest that the behavior of nanoplastics and co-occurring pollutants in both biological and natural water systems may be more complex than previously understood.
Structure of soft and hard protein corona around polystyrene nanoplastics—Particle size and protein types
Researchers characterized the protein corona that forms around polystyrene nanoplastics of different sizes, finding that particle size influences which proteins bind and how tightly, with implications for nanoplastic toxicity and biological uptake.
Soft and Hard Interactions between Polystyrene Nanoplastics and Human Serum Albumin Protein Corona
The structure of protein coronas formed when polystyrene nanoplastics interact with human serum albumin (HSA) was analyzed, finding that nanoplastic size and pH influenced whether hard (irreversible) or soft (exchangeable) corona formed, with weak but size-dependent interactions occurring despite the overall low affinity. The study provides mechanistic insight into how nanoplastics may interact with blood proteins upon entering the human circulatory system.
Bovine Serum Albumin Bends Over Backward to Interact with Aged Plastics: A Model for Understanding Protein Attachment to Plastic Debris
Scientists studied how proteins attach to plastic debris at different stages of sun-induced aging and found that weathered plastics attract significantly more protein binding and bacterial biofilm formation. The proteins physically reshape themselves to accommodate changes in the plastic's surface as it degrades. This matters because microplastics coated with biological material can more easily carry harmful bacteria and toxins through water systems and potentially into the human food chain.
Photochemically induced aging of polystyrene nanoplastics and its impact on norfloxacin adsorption behavior
Researchers accelerated aging of polystyrene nanoplastics via photo-Fenton reactions and found that aging increases surface roughness, oxygen content, and specific surface area — boosting norfloxacin antibiotic adsorption by over fivefold compared to virgin particles and adding new polar interaction and pore-filling mechanisms.
Molecular mechanism underlying the modulated toxicity of differently charged and sized nanoplastics by bovine serum albumin
This study examined how bovine serum albumin modulates the toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics with different charges and sizes in biological systems. Serum albumin formed a protein corona that reduced the toxicity of negatively charged nanoplastics but had less protective effect against positively charged particles.
Time evolution of protein corona formed by polystyrene nanoplastics and urease
Researchers investigated how polystyrene nanoplastics interact with urease to form a protein corona over time, finding that the corona's composition and structure evolve dynamically, potentially altering the environmental fate and hazards of nanoplastics.
Photoaging of polystyrene-based microplastics amplifies inflammatory response in macrophages
Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics aged by sunlight exposure for just three hours triggered stronger inflammatory responses and DNA damage in immune cells than fresh microplastics, even at very low concentrations. The aging process changed the particles' surface properties, making them more biologically reactive. Since most microplastics in the real world have been weathered by sunlight, this study suggests their actual health impact may be greater than lab studies using pristine particles indicate.