2. Academic Validation
  3. Mucin corona delays intracellular trafficking and alleviates cytotoxicity of nanoplastic-benzopyrene combined contaminant

Mucin corona delays intracellular trafficking and alleviates cytotoxicity of nanoplastic-benzopyrene combined contaminant

  • J Hazard Mater. 2021 Mar 15;406:124306. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124306.
Yunxia Ji 1,  Yunqing Wang 2,  Dazhong Shen 3,  Qi Kang 4,  Lingxin Chen 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China.
  • 2 CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China; Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
  • 3 College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, China.
  • 4 College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, China. Electronic address: kangqi@sdnu.edu.cn.
  • 5 CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266237, China; Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China; School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China. Electronic address: lxchen@yic.ac.cn.
PMID: 33109409 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124306
Abstract

Nanoplastics have recently become a worldwide concern as newly emerging airborne pollutants, which can associate with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and form combined contaminant nanoparticles (CCNPs). After being inhaled in the respiratory system, the CCNPs would first encounter the mucous gel layer being rich in Mucin. Herein, polystyrene-benzopyrene (PS@Bap) NPs were prepared as CCNPs model and their interaction with Mucin and the resultant biological responses were studied. It was observed that Mucin corona stably attached to the CCNPs surface, which significantly altered the fate of the CCNPs in lung epithelial cells (A 549 cell line). The Mucin corona would 1) stably adsorbed on PS@Bap at the early stages of endocytosis until degraded during the lysosomal transport and maturation process, 2) delay intracellular trafficking of PS@Bap and the progress of Bap detached from PS, 3) enhance uptake of PS@Bap but reduce the cytotoxicity elicited by PS@Bap, as indicated by cell viability, generation of Reactive Oxygen Species, impairment on mitochondrial function, and further cell Apoptosis. In addition, in vivo study also verified the enhanced effect of PS on the development of an acute lung inflammatory response induced by Bap. This study highlights the significance of incorporating the effects of Mucin for precisely assessing the respiratory system toxicity of nanoplastics based CCNPs in atmospheric environments.

Keywords

Combined contamination; Intracellular trafficking; Nanoplastics; Protein corona; Toxicological effects.

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