Internalization and toxicity: A preliminary study of effects of nanoplastic particles on human lung epithelial cell

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 694; p. 133794
• Main Authors: Xu, Mingkai, Halimu, Gulinare, Zhang, Qianru, Song, Yubo, Fu, Xuanhe, Li, Yongqiang, Li, Yansheng, Zhang, Huiwen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.12.2019
• Subjects: air pollution; Alveolar epithelial cells; Apoptosis; caspase-3; caspase-8; caspase-9; Cell cycle; Cell Line; cell lines; Cell viability; cytochrome c; cytoplasm; Environmental Pollutants - toxicity; Epithelial Cells; epithelium; exposure duration; Humans; interleukin-8; Lung; lungs; Nanoparticles - toxicity; Nanoplastics; Plastics - toxicity; pollutants; polystyrenes; pro-apoptotic proteins; protein synthesis; risk; surface area; toxicity; Toxicity Tests; Toxicological effect; toxicology; transcription (genetics); transcription factor NF-kappa B; tumor necrosis factor-alpha; Cell viability; Toxicological effect; Alveolar epithelial cells; Cell cycle; Nanoplastics; Apoptosis
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133794

As a kind of newly emerging pollutant, nanoplastics are easily to be ingested by organisms, and cause severe damage to biological functions because of their small size, high specific surface area, and strong biological penetration. Recently, there are increasing reports of numerous airborne microplastics, including polystyrene (PS), being detected in atmospheric samples, which implies a potential risk to the human respiratory system. In this work, we evaluated the effects of polystyrene nanoparticles of two different sizes (PS-NP25: 25 nm diameter and PS-NP70: 70 nm diameter) on the human alveolar epithelial A549 cell line including internalization, cell viability, cell cycle, apoptosis, and associated gene transcription and protein expression. Results showed that PS-NP25 was internalized more rapidly and efficiently into the cytoplasm of A549 than PS-NP70. PS-NPs significantly affected the cell viability, caused cell cycle S phrase arrest, activated inflammatory gene transcription, and changed the expression of proteins associated with cell cycle and pro-apoptosis. PS-NPs induced significant up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-8, NF-κB, and TNF-α, as well as pro-apoptotic proteins such as DR5, caspase-3, caspase-8, caspase-9, and cytochrome c, which revealed that PS-NPs triggered a TNF-α-associated apoptosis pathway. This study suggests that exposure duration, diameter, and concentration are the key factors for evaluating the toxicological effects of PS-NPs on alveolar epithelial cells. More attention must be focused on the risk of nanoplastic-related air pollution and the environmental toxicological effects of nanoplastics on humans and other terrestrial mammals. [Display omitted] •Polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) are rapidly internalized by A549 human lung epithelial cells.•PS-NPs significantly affect the viability, apoptosis, and cell cycle of A549 cells.•Gene transcription and protein expression in A549 cell are disturbed by PS-NPs.•Effects of PS-NPs to A549 are size, exposure time, and concentration dependent.•Environmental risk of nanoplastic to respiratory system should be concerned.