{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T18:23:08Z","timestamp":1792520588078,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,20]],"date-time":"2023-04-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1681948800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The ubiquitous spread of Polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) has rendered chronic human exposure an unavoidable phenomenon. The biodistribution of such particles leads to bioaccumulation in target organs including the testis, the site of sperm maturation. The purpose of this research has been to estimate the impact of PS-NPs (50 and 100 nm) on the metabolism of mature spermatozoa. The analysis of the semen parameters has revealed a higher toxicity of the smaller sized PS-NPs, which have negatively affected major organelles, leading to increased acrosomal damage, oxidative stress with the production of ROS, DNA fragmentation, and decreased mitochondrial activity. PS-NPs of 100 nm, on the other hand, have mainly affected the acrosome and induced a general state of stress. An attempt has also been made to highlight possible protective mechanisms such as the expression of HSP70s and their correlation among various parameters. The results have evinced a marked production of HSP70s in the samples exposed to the smaller PS-NPs, negatively correlated with the worsening in oxidative stress, DNA fragmentation, and mitochondrial anomalies. In conclusion, our results have confirmed the toxicity of PS-NPs on human spermatozoa but have also demonstrated the presence of mechanisms capable of counteracting at least in part these injuries.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biology12040624","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,20]],"date-time":"2023-04-20T04:53:59Z","timestamp":1681966439000},"page":"624","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":31,"title":["In Vitro Nano-Polystyrene Toxicity: Metabolic Dysfunctions and Cytoprotective Responses of Human Spermatozoa"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Martina","family":"Contino","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Greta","family":"Ferruggia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefania","family":"Indelicato","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3293-728X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roberta","family":"Pecoraro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4910-4500","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elena Maria","family":"Scalisi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Bracchitta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"U.O. Fisiopatologia della Riproduzione Umana\u2014Clinica del Mediterraneo, 97100 Ragusa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jessica","family":"Dragotto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"U.O. Fisiopatologia della Riproduzione Umana\u2014Clinica del Mediterraneo, 97100 Ragusa, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6063-9517","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Salvaggio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Sicily \u201cA. Mirri\u201d, 90129 Palermo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5146-3564","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Violetta","family":"Brundo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Peddinti, D., Nanduri, B., Kaya, A., Feugang, J.M., Burgess, S.C., and Memili, E. (2008). Comprehensive proteomic analysis of bovine spermatozoa of varying fertility rates and identification of biomarkers associated with fertility. BMC Syst. Biol., 2.","DOI":"10.1186\/1752-0509-2-19"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Van de Hoek, M., Rickard, J.P., and de Graaf, S.P. (2022). 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