posted on 2021-04-16, 21:29authored byGomathi Mahadevan, Suresh Valiyaveettil
High concentrations of micro- and
nanoparticles of common plastic
materials present in the environment are causing an adverse health
impact on living organisms. As a model study, here we report the synthesis
and characterization of luminescent polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and poly(methyl
methacrylate) (PMMA) nanoparticles and investigate the interaction
with normal human lung fibroblast cells (IMR 90) to understand the
uptake, translocation, and toxicity of PVC and PMMA nanoparticles.
The synthesized particles are in the size range of 120–140
nm with a negative surface potential. The colocalization and uptake
efficiency of the nanoparticles were analyzed, and the cytotoxicity
assay shows significant reduction in cell viability. Cellular internalization
was investigated using colocalization and dynasore inhibitor tests,
which showed that the PVC and PMMA nanoparticles enter into the cell
via endocytosis. The polymer nanoparticles induced a reduction in
viability, decrease in adenosine triphosphate, and increase in reactive
oxygen species and lactate dehydrogenase concentrations. In addition,
the polymer nanoparticles caused cell cycle arrest at sub-G1, G0/G1, and G2/M phases, followed by apoptotic
cell death. Our results reported here are important to the emerging
data on understanding the impact of common polymer particles on human
health.