Micro- and Nanoplastics Breach the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB): Biomolecular Corona's Role Revealed

Verena Kopatz, Kevin Wen, Tibor Kovács, Alison S Keimowitz, Verena Pichler, Joachim Widder, A Dick Vethaak, Oldamur Hollóczki, Lukas Kenner

Publications: Contribution to journalArticlePeer Reviewed

Abstract

Humans are continuously exposed to polymeric materials such as in textiles, car tires and packaging. Unfortunately, their break down products pollute our environment, leading to widespread contamination with micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs). The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is an important biological barrier that protects the brain from harmful substances. In our study we performed short term uptake studies in mice with orally administered polystyrene micro-/nanoparticles (9.55 µm, 1.14 µm, 0.293 µm). We show that nanometer sized particles—but not bigger particles—reach the brain within only 2 h after gavage. To understand the transport mechanism, we performed coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations on the interaction of DOPC bilayers with a polystyrene nanoparticle in the presence and absence of various coronae. We found that the composition of the biomolecular corona surrounding the plastic particles was critical for passage through the BBB. Cholesterol molecules enhanced the uptake of these contaminants into the membrane of the BBB, whereas the protein model inhibited it. These opposing effects could explain the passive transport of the particles into the brain.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1404
JournalNanomaterials
Volume13
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 Apr 2023

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 104002 Analytical chemistry

Keywords

  • biomolecular corona
  • blood–brain barrier
  • computational uptake modeling
  • micro-/nanoplastic
  • polystyrene

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