1. Polystyrene microplastic-induced extracellular vesicles cause kidney-related effects in the crosstalk between tubular cells and fibroblasts
- Author
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Yung-Li Wang, Cathy Chia-Yu Huang, Cai-Mei Zheng, Wen-Chih Liu, Yu-Hsuan Lee, and Hui-Wen Chiu
- Subjects
Polystyrene microplastics ,Extracellular vesicles ,Endoplasmic reticulum stress ,Reactive oxygen species ,Fibrosis ,Environmental pollution ,TD172-193.5 ,Environmental sciences ,GE1-350 - Abstract
Plastic waste accumulation and its degradation into microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) pose environmental concerns. Previous studies have indicated that polystyrene (PS)-MPs harm living animals. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are associated with metabolic reprogramming and mitochondrial dysfunction in various kidney diseases. In this article, we evaluated how PS-MPs affected tubular cells and fibroblasts. The results demonstrated that PS-MPs increased EV production in human tubular cells and caused endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related proteins without inducing inflammation-related proteins in human tubular cells. The uptake of PS-MPs and incubation with the conditioned medium of PS-MPs induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and ER stress-related proteins in fibroblast cells. The fibroblast cells treated with the conditioned medium of PS-MPs also increased the expression of fibrosis-related proteins. Our findings suggested that the expression of EV-related markers increased in tubular cells via Beclin 1 after PS-MP treatment. In addition, PS-MPs induced ROS production in vitro and in vivo. We found that PS-MPs also altered the expression of EV markers in urine, and CD63 expression was also increased in vitro and in vivo after PS-MP treatment. In conclusion, PS-MP-induced EVs lead to ER stress-related proteins, ROS production and fibrosis-related proteins in tubular cells and fibroblasts.
- Published
- 2024
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