{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T00:24:29Z","timestamp":1792801469633,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,26]],"date-time":"2024-04-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1714089600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"The Polish Ministry of Health","award":["STM.A020.20.051"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["STM.A020.20.051"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Micro- and nanoplastic particles, including common forms like polyethylene and polystyrene, have been identified as relevant pollutants, potentially causing health problems in living organisms. The mechanisms at the cellular level largely remain to be elucidated. This study aims to visualize nanoplastics in bronchial smooth muscle (BSMC) and small airway epithelial cells (SAEC), and to assess the impact on mitochondrial metabolism. Healthy and asthmatic human BSMC and SAEC in vitro cultures were stimulated with polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) of 25 or 50 nm size, for 1 or 24 h. Live cell, label-free imaging by holotomography microscopy and mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis assessment were performed. Furthermore, 25 and 50 nm NPs were shown to penetrate SAEC, along with healthy and diseased BSMC, and they impaired bioenergetics and induce mitochondrial dysfunction compared to cells not treated with NPs, including changes in oxygen consumption rate and extracellular acidification rate. NPs pose a serious threat to human health by penetrating airway tissues and cells, and affecting both oxidative and glycolytic metabolism.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms25094724","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,26]],"date-time":"2024-04-26T08:18:27Z","timestamp":1714119507000},"page":"4724","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":33,"title":["Nanoplastics Penetrate Human Bronchial Smooth Muscle and Small Airway Epithelial Cells and Affect Mitochondrial Metabolism"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"given":"Ewa","family":"Winiarska","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Immunology, Wroclaw Medical University, 51-616 Wroclaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Monika","family":"Chaszczewska-Markowska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Clinical Immunogenetics and Pharmacogenetics, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"Ghete","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bioscience Technology Facility, Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marek","family":"Jutel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Immunology, Wroclaw Medical University, 51-616 Wroclaw, Poland"},{"name":"ALL-MED Medical Research Institute, 53-201 Wroclaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7201-8638","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Magdalena","family":"Zemelka-Wiacek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Immunology, Wroclaw Medical University, 51-616 Wroclaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10239","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1314705111","article-title":"Plastic debris in the open ocean","volume":"111","author":"Irigoien","year":"2014","journal-title":"Proc. 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