Polystyrene Nano- and Microplastic Particles Induce an Inflammatory Gene Expression Profile in Rat Neural Stem Cell-Derived Astrocytes In Vitro

Abstract

Microplastics are considered an emerging environmental pollutant due to their ubiquitous presence in the environment. However, the potential impact of microplastics on human health warrants further research. Recent studies have reported neurobehavioral and neurotoxic effects in marine and rodent models; however, their impact on the underlying cellular physiology in mammals remains unclear. Herein, we exposed neural stem cells and neural stem cell-derived astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and neurons to various sizes and concentrations of polystyrene nano- and microplastics. We investigated their cellular uptake, impact on cytotoxicity, and alteration of gene expression through transcriptome profiling. The cell type most affected by decreased viability were astrocytes after 7 days of repeated exposure. Transcriptional analysis showed that 1274 genes were differentially expressed in astrocytes exposed to 500 nm microplastics, but only 531 genes were altered in astrocytes exposed to 50 nm nanoplastics. Both canonical pathway and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed that upregulated pathways were involved in neuroinflammation, innate and adaptive immunity, cell migration, proliferation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and cytoskeleton structures. The downregulated pathways were involved in lipid metabolism, specifically fatty acid oxidation and cholesterol metabolism. Our results show that neural stem cell-derived astrocytes repeatedly exposed to nano- and microplastics for 7 days undergo changes that are hallmarks of astrogliosis.

Copper-Nanoparticle-Induced Neurotoxic Effect and Oxidative Stress in the Early Developmental Stage of Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

“…Similar findings have been reported in in vitro studies. Transcriptome data showed the inflammatory gene expression in astrocytes repeatedly exposed to micro- and nanoplastics (MNPLs) for 168 h. The transcriptional expression of il-1β , tnf, and il-6 was upregulated by MNPLs of different sizes (50 nm and 500 nm) [ 58 ]. Wang et al [ 59 ] explored the proinflammatory effect and cytotoxicity of PS nanoplastics (PS-NPs) and PS microplastics (PS-MPs) on mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells.…”

Impact of the Oral Administration of Polystyrene Microplastics on Hepatic Lipid, Glucose, and Amino Acid Metabolism in C57BL/6Korl and C57BL/6-Lepem1hwl/Korl Mice

“…Also, the MPs consisted of circular-shaped particles with a specific number-distribution size (607.23 ± 8.27 d.nm) and zeta potential (−35.52 ± 1.18 mV) (Figure 17). The size of the MPs used in both mice was determined based on the previous reports on MPs as cause of constipation [51], autophagy [52], and inflammation [53].…”