Date of Award

12-2024

Degree Type

Report

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biological Engineering

Committee Chair(s)

Anhong Zhou

Committee

Anhong Zhou

Committee

David Britt

Committee

Kimberly Hageman

Abstract

Nanoplastics and microplastics are a growing ecological and health concern due to their widespread prevalence. The effects of these microscopic particles in biological systems primarily relate to their potential to produce reactive oxygen species and interactive effects with other cytotoxic agents. Of particular interest in this work is the effect on mammalian intestinal cells, due to the regular unintentional ingestion of micro- and nanoplastics in the normal western diet. In this study, Caco-2 cells were cultured and exposed to polystyrene particles in vitro as a simple model of the human digestive endothelium.

Resveratrol, a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound, has been shown to protect against reactive oxygen species through a combination of direct neutralization or by enhancing the expression of genes responsible for cellular defense. This work sets out to demonstrate how resveratrol and other antioxidant compounds can be used to assuage the cellular damage caused by nanoplastics. Oxidative damage and apoptosis were measured as a function of nanoplastic size, concentration, and chemical modification. Significant cellular damage was detected in the presence of amine-modified nanoplastics, while cell health was recovered when the cells were pre-treated with resveratrol and a chemically-modified variant of resveratrol.

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