A study on microplastics interference in mammalian cells metabolism via Infrared Microimaging and Nanospectroscopy

目的是开发一种结合活细胞同步辐射（SR）傅立叶变换红外（FTIR）成像（通过焦平面阵列（FPA）探测器）和FTIR纳米光谱在固定细胞上的实验方法，研究哺乳动物细胞内微/纳米塑料的分子相互作用。微塑料污染已经引起了科学界和公众的关注。这些低密度材料被定义为小于5毫米的塑料颗粒和纤维，它们很容易分散在它们存在的环境中。由于塑料仍被广泛使用，微塑料和潜在的纳米塑料（<100纳米）颗粒在降解和脱落时将继续向环境释放。虽然有证据表明人们通过食物、饮用水、灰尘和空气接触到微塑料，但其毒性的基本原理仍然未知。（Vethaak 2021）鉴于它们发生的多样性，了解急性毒性如何随成分（例如低/高密度塑料材料）和尺寸（微/纳米）而变化，与颗粒毒理学原理相关，有助于预测风险。此外，了解微塑料是否存在于细胞内，以及这些变量（聚合物类型、大小）如何影响细胞内的生物存在，是预测其暴露后潜在慢性影响的关键。

The aim is to develop an experimental approach combining live cell Syncrotron Radiation (SR) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) imaging via a Focal plane array (FPA) detector and FTIR nanospectroscopy on fixed cells to study the molecular interactions of micro/nanoplastics within mammalian cells.Microplastic pollution has attracted attention in both the scientific community and general public. Defined as plastic particles and fibres <5 mm, these low-density materials are easily dispersed throughout the environment where they persist. As plastic remains widely used, the release of micro- and potentially nanoplastic (<100 nm) particles to the environment will continue as they degrade and shed. Whilst there is evidence for population exposure to microplastics via food, drinking water, dust and air, fundamentals about their toxicity remain unknown. (Vethaak 2021) Given the variety in which they occur, understanding how acute toxicity varies with composition (e.g., low/high density plastic materials), and size (micro/nano) are pertinent to predicting risk, informed by principals in particle toxicology.(Riediker 2019) Moreover, understanding whether microplastics biopersist inside cells and how these variables (polymer type, size) affect this is key to predicting the potential chronicity of their effects following exposure.