Anionic nanoplastic contaminants promote Parkinson’s disease–associated α-synuclein aggregation

• DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi8716
• Publication Date: 2023-11-17T19:01:01Z
• Authors: Zhiyong Liu; Arpine Sokratian; Addison M. Duda; Enquan Xu; Christina Stanhope; Amber Fu; Samuel Strader; Huizhong Li; Yuan Yuan; Benjamin G. Bobay; Joana Sipe; Ketty Bai; Iben Lundgaard; Na Liu; Belinda Hernandez; Catherine Bowes R...; Sara E. Miller; Andrew B. West
• Keywords: Amyloid (mycology)

Recent studies have identified increasing levels of nanoplastic pollution in the environment. Here, we find that anionic contaminants potently precipitate formation and propagation α-synuclein protein fibrils through a high-affinity interaction with amphipathic non-amyloid component (NAC) domains α-synuclein. Nanoplastics can internalize neurons clathrin-dependent endocytosis, causing mild lysosomal impairment slows degradation aggregated In mice, nanoplastics combine to exacerbate spread pathology across interconnected vulnerable brain regions, including strong induction inclusions dopaminergic substantia nigra. These results highlight potential link for further exploration between aggregation associated Parkinson’s disease related dementias.