Inhalable textile microplastic fibers impair lung repair

Abstract

Synthetic textiles shed fibers that accumulate indoors and this results in continuous exposure when indoors. High exposure to microplastic fibers in nylon flock workers has been linked to the development of airway and interstitial lung disease, but the exact health effects of microplastic fibers on the lungs are unknown. Here we determined effects of polyester and nylon textile microplastic fibers on airway and alveolar epithelial cells using human and murine lung organoids. We observed that particularly nylon microfibers had a negative impact on the growth and development of airway organoids. We demonstrated that this effect was mediated by components leaking from nylon. Moreover, our data suggested that microplastic textile fibers may especially harm the developing airways or airways undergoing repair. Our results call for a need to assess exposure and inhalation levels in indoor environments to accurately determine the actual risk of these fibers to human health.TeaserAirborne fibers shed from synthetic textiles, in particular nylon, can inhibit repair of the cells coating the airways

Human Embryos, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, and Organoids: Models to Assess the Effects of Environmental Plastic Pollution

“…Even though some studies elaborated precise mechanisms of pollutants via organoids including cytotoxic effects and decrease of cell viability, membrane integrity disruption, upregulation and downregulation of genes involved in cell growth differentiation and homeostasis, and increased levels of ROS, calcium oscillations, etc. (Yang et al, 2013;Kermanizadeh et al, 2014;Ferraz et al, 2016;Forsythe et al, 2018;Harris et al, 2018;Chen et al, 2019;Henson et al, 2019;Kim J. H. et al, 2020;Zeng et al, 2021;van Dijk et al, 2021, the contribution is a preprint; Winkler et al, 2021, the contribution is a preprint), other studies showed no adverse effects, or minimal cellular alterations (George et al, 2019;Di Cristo et al, 2020). Of great importance is consideration of specific features when it comes to organoids-lack of vasculature and immune system cells, cellto-cell communication, ECM, and natural cell niche, even few, but are detrimental regarding the narrow portrayal of organoids' reaction to pollutants.…”

“…This is explained by the negative impact of nylon microplastics on the top five enriched pathways for downregulated and upregulated genes crucial for epithelial development and function. Even though van Dijk et al (2021) supposed that bisphenol A is the main reason for lung organoid growth inhibition, incubation of lung organoids with bisphenol-A did not affect organoid growth. Eventually, this study suggested that nylon microplastics can negatively affect children and people with chronic or seasonal respiratory diseases.…”

“…Gene expression assessment of lung-specific genes, inflammatory cytokines, and oxidative stress-related genes was performed by qRT-PCR and showed no significant differences when compared to the control group (Winkler et al, 2021; the contribution is a preprint). Even though MPFs did not have an adverse effect on lung organoids, there was the polarization of the cell growth along the fibers, similarly to organoid-covered plastic fibers with a cellular layer in the study of van Dijk et al (2021; the contribution is a preprint). Such outcomes implied possible negative effects of MPFs.…”

“…Such outcomes implied possible negative effects of MPFs. Hence, a recent study by van Dijk et al (2021) showed that the growth of murine and human lung organoids was inhibited 14 days after exposure to nylon microfibers. This was confirmed by light and fluorescence microscopy.…”

“…In the previously described study (van Dijk et al, 2021; the contribution is a preprint), the RNA-seq analysis has been used to confirm that nylon fibers were less inhibitory for the growth of alveolar organoids (AO) than treatment with component leaching of the polymer or lower numbers of nylon fibers. The Notch1 and Notch2 signaling pathways were downregulated, as well as their ligands Jag1 and Jag2, which are responsible for the development of airway epithelial cells, and club cells (van Dijk et al, 2021; the contribution is a preprint). Winkler and coworkers used human lung organoids to examine the effect of microplastic fibers (MPFs) on organoid growth and their inflammatory effects on the established lung organoids (Winkler et al, 2021; the contribution is a preprint).…”