Polyethylene terephthalate nanoparticles effect on RAW 264.7 macrophage cells

Abstract

Plastic pollution is a major environmental concern due to its pervasiveness which continues to increase year on year, as a result of a continuing acceleration in global plastic production and use. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is among the most produced plastics, commonly used as food and beverage containers. Once released in the environment, the degradation of plastic materials produces micro-and nano-plastics, with a particular concern about potential toxicological effects if they cross epithelial barriers via inhalation or ingestion. In this work, the effect of PET nanoparticles (PET-NPs) (≤ 250 d.nm) was assayed on mouse macrophages cell line (RAW 264.7) in in vitro experiments. Results showed that PET nanoparticles were easily internalized by the cells, 15 μg/mL of nanoparticles concentration had exhibited effects in cell proliferation and a slightly increased production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), which seems to trigger cell response as foreign particles related to upregulation of PCDH12, IGH-V10, ROBO1 genes, and cell maintenance functions, related to FTSJ2 gene upregulation. Thus, the RAW 264.7 results showed here are useful towards for a preliminary and understanding of the potentially toxic effects related to PET nanoparticles and complementary to other in vitro assays, as the first step into the development of the risk assessment framework.

Investigating the Cellular Uptake of Model Nanoplastics by Single-Cell ICP-MS

“…When cells were exposed to 100 µg mL −1 of PE Au or PVC Au nanoplastics, both the RAW 264.7 and Caco-2 cells showed cell interaction and internalization, detected by each technique that was applied. In particular, nanoplastics were mainly distributed inside endosomes, with amphisomes, confirming the endo-phagocytic pathway of plastics [ 23 ] and outside interactions with the cell membrane and microvilli.…”

Fabrication of Nylon-6 and Nylon-11 Nanoplastics and Evaluation in Mammalian Cells

“…However, using dental pulp stem cells, Ma et al showed that nylon-11 nanoparticles (approximately 50 nm) were cytocompatible at a dose of 400 µg/mL [ 51 ]. Nanoparticles comprising another commodity plastic, PET, were recently tested in multiple studies with RAW 264.7 cells [ 36 , 37 , 81 ]. At concentrations of 15 µg/mL, Aguilar-Guzmán and colleagues showed the PET nanoparticles affected RAW 264.7 cells by increasing the production of ROS, altering cell proliferation, and upregulating certain genes likely related to foreign particle responses and cell maintenance [ 81 ].…”

“…Nanoparticles comprising another commodity plastic, PET, were recently tested in multiple studies with RAW 264.7 cells [ 36 , 37 , 81 ]. At concentrations of 15 µg/mL, Aguilar-Guzmán and colleagues showed the PET nanoparticles affected RAW 264.7 cells by increasing the production of ROS, altering cell proliferation, and upregulating certain genes likely related to foreign particle responses and cell maintenance [ 81 ]. For nylon-based NPs, future studies are required to understand the potential effects of these particles on gene expression.…”

Microplastics released from food containers can suppress lysosomal activity in mouse macrophages

“…The size of the nanoparticles also influences composition of the protein corona; small plastic particles have been known to favor the formation of soft corona, while large plastic particles favor the formation of hard corona ( Kihara et al, 2019 ). Relatively small micro- or nanoplastics may be uptaken either through phagocytosis or receptor-mediated processes, particularly by phagocytes such as macrophages ( Aguilar-Guzmán et al, 2022 ). Further research is necessary to investigate the changes to the corona composition, and the potential role of its uptake into specific cells.…”