BACKGROUND: Understanding the epidemic of chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology may be critical for health policies and public health responses. Recent studies have shown that microplastics (MPs) contaminate our food chain and accumulate in the gut, liver, kidney, muscle, and so on. Humans manufacture many plastics-related products. Previous studies have indicated that particles of these products have several effects on the gut and liver. Polystyrene (PS)-MPs (PS-MPs) induce several responses, such as oxidative stress, and affect living organisms. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of PS-MPs in kidney cells in vitro and in vivo. METHODS: PS-MPs were evaluated in human kidney proximal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2 cells) and male C57BL/6 mice. Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS), endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, inflammation, and autophagy were analyzed in kidney cells. In vivo, we evaluated biomarkers of kidney function, kidney ultrastructure, muscle mass, and grip strength, and urine protein levels, as well as the accumulation of PS-MPs in the kidney tissue. RESULTS: Uptake of PS-MPs at different concentrations by HK-2 cells resulted in higher levels of mitochondrial ROS and the mitochondrial protein Bad. Cells exposed to PS-MPs had higher ER stress and markers of inflammation. MitoTEMPO, which is a mitochondrial ROS antioxidant, mitigated the higher levels of mitochondrial ROS, Bad, ER stress, and specific autophagy-related proteins seen with PS-MP exposure. Furthermore, cells exposed to PS-MPs had higher protein levels of LC3 and Beclin 1. PS-MPs also had changes in phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and protein kinase B (AKT)/mitogen-activated protein kinase (mTOR) signaling pathways. In an in vivo study, PS-MPs accumulated and the treated mice had more histopathological lesions in the kidneys and higher levels of ER stress, inflammatory markers, and autophagy-related proteins in the kidneys after PS-MPs treatment by oral gavage. CONCLUSIONS:The results suggest that PS-MPs caused mitochondrial dysfunction, ER stress, inflammation, and autophagy in kidney cells and accumulated in HK-2 cells and in the kidneys of mice. These results suggest that long-term PS-MPs exposure may be a risk factor for kidney health.

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Herein, we develop a series etching and atom codeposition process to fabricate concave double-shell AgAu (CD-AgAu) and CD-AgAu:Pd nanocubes. High surface area and edge activity from the CD nanostructure consisting of a single hole appear in the central area, and 12 concave structures exhibit superior surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). As investigating the Pd dopants at the CD surface with SERS and electrochemistry, we demonstrate that the 2.8% Pd-doped CD-AgAu nanocubes perform impressive catalysis at ≤30 s of the hydrogenation reaction by lowering the activation energy. Furthermore, the CD-AgAu:4.6%Pd nanocubes act as a superior catalyst for glycerol electrooxidation and could retain their highindex facets after a long-term durability test. Our work will help to motivate future efforts for the deliberate incorporation of a low content of noble metals into CD nanostructures to develop chemical sensing devices in interfacial reactions and clean energy conversion technology.

Successful synthesis of glyconanoparticles has attracted much attention due to their various biointeractive capabilities, but it is still a challenge to understand different single-cell responses to exogenous particles among cell populations. Herein, we designed polyaniline-containing galactosylated gold nanoparticles (Au@PGlyco NPs) via in situ polymerization of ortho-nitrophenyl-β-galactoside assisted by Au nucleation. The nanogold-carrying polyaniline block produced electromagnetic enhancement in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The underlying polymerization mechanism of ortho-nitrophenyl compounds via the formation of Au nanoparticles was investigated. Depending on how the galactoside moiety reacted with β-galactosidase derived from bacteria, the Au@PGlyco NPs-mediated SERS biosensor could detect low amounts of bacteria (∼1 × 102 CFU/mL). In addition, a high accumulation of Au@PGlyco NPs mediated the immune response of tumor-associated M2 macrophages to the immunogenic M1 macrophage transition, which was elicited by reactive oxygen levels biostimulation using single-cell SERS-combined fluorescence imaging. Our study suggested that Au@PGlyco NPs may serve as a biosensing platform with the labeling capacity on galactose-binding receptors expressed cell and immune regulation.