{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T05:05:29Z","timestamp":1789707929747,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789689600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pharmacol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Microplastics (MPs) are widely distributed in the environment and may aggravate ulcerative colitis (UC), but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We integrated network toxicology, RNA-seq-based differential expression analysis, molecular docking, GeneMANIA-based functional association analysis, and experimental validation in a murine DSS-induced colitis model.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We identified 421 MP-related and 6,452 UC-related targets, including 265 overlapping targets. PIK3CD, PIK3CA, SRC, PTPN11, and EGFR were prioritized as hub targets with stable ligand binding. Enrichment analyses implicated the PI3K-Akt, JAK-STAT, T-cell receptor, and HIF-1 signaling pathways. In vivo experiments showed that MP exposure increased the colonic abundance of these five proteins and enhanced p-PI3K and p-AKT signals in DSS-induced colitis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>MP exposure is associated with enhanced PI3K-Akt signaling in experimental colitis. These findings provide preliminary biological support for the PI3K-Akt pathway as a potentially relevant mechanism linking MP exposure to UC aggravation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphar.2026.1875549","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T04:33:49Z","timestamp":1789706029000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Microplastic exposure is associated with enhanced PI3K-Akt signaling in DSS-induced colitis: integrated bioinformatics analyses and in vivo validation"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Lisha","family":"Lu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Affiliated People\u2019s Hospital of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuanming","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Clinical Research Academy of Chinese Medicine","place":["Guangzhou, China"]},{"name":"The First Clinical Medical School of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shunyong","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Affiliated People\u2019s Hospital of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shaogang","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Clinical Research Academy of Chinese Medicine","place":["Guangzhou, China"]},{"name":"The First Clinical Medical School of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Guangzhou, Guangdong, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yulong","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Affiliated People\u2019s Hospital of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine","place":["Fuzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100082","DOI":"10.70389\/PJS.100082","article-title":"Transparency in the reporting of artificial INtelligence \u2013 the TITAN guideline","volume":"10","author":"Agha","year":"2025","journal-title":"Prem. 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