Repression of autophagy leads to acrosome biogenesis disruption caused by a sub-chronic oral administration of polystyrene nanoparticles. (May 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhou, Lixiao; Yu, Ziying; Xia, Yinyin; Cheng, Shuqun; Gao, Jieying; Sun, Wei; Jiang, Xuejun; Zhang, Jun; Mao, Lejiao; Qin, Xia; Zou, Zhen; Qiu, Jingfu; Chen, Chengzhi
• Is Part Of: Environment international. Volume 163(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-05
• Subjects: Polystyrene nanoparticles -- Male reproductive -- Acrosome biogenesis -- Autophagy; ANOVA One-way analysis of variance -- Atg5 Autophagy related 5 -- Atg7 Autophagy related 7 -- Atg10 Autophagy related 10 -- Atg12 Autophagy related 12 -- Atg13 Autophagy related 13 -- Atg16l Autophagy related 16 like 1 -- BCA Bicinchoninic acid -- BTB Blood testis barrior -- DLS Dynamic light scattering -- DMEM Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium -- DPY19L2 Developmental pluripotency-associated 19-like 2 -- Golph3 Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (Golph3) -- GOPC Golgi associated PDZ- and coiled-coil motif-containing protein -- Gba2 β-Glucosidase 2 -- HPG Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal -- Ho-1 heme oxygenase 1 -- Hrb ArfGAP with FG repeats 1 -- HTF Human tubal fluid -- PBS Phosphate buffered saline -- HUVECs Human umbilical vein endothelial cells -- LC3B Microtubule-associated Protein1 Light Chain 3B -- LSD Least significant difference -- 3-MA 3-methyladenine -- MPs Microplastics -- Nfe2l2 nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 -- NPs Nanoplastics -- OD Optical density -- PET Polyethylene terephthalate -- PI Propidium iodide -- Pick1 Protein interacting with C kinase 1 -- PNA-FITC Peanut agglutinin-fluorescein isothiocyanate -- PP Polypropylene -- PS-NPs Polystyrene nanoparticles -- PVDF Polyvinylidene fluoride -- qRT-PCR Real-time quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction -- RAW264.7 Mouse leukemic monocyte macrophage -- SD Standard deviation -- Spaca1 Sperm acrosome associated 1 -- SQSTM1/p62 Sequestosome 1 -- Txn2 thioredoxin 2 -- ZnO-NPs Zinc oxide nanoparticles -- Zpbp1 Zona pellucida binding protein 1; Environmental protection -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Periodicals; Environmental monitoring -- Periodicals; Environmental Monitoring -- Periodicals; Environnement -- Protection -- Périodiques; Hygiène du milieu -- Périodiques; Environnement -- Surveillance -- Périodiques; Environmental health; Environmental monitoring; Environmental protection; Periodicals; 333.705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107220
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0160-4120

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: Sperm quality of mice were declined after oral administration to PS-NPs. PS-NPs altered the ultrastructure of acrosome and disrupted acrosome biogenesis. PS-NPs-induced acrosome biogenesis disruption was linked with autophagy repression. Abstract: As a new widespread contaminant, nanoplastics (NPs) pose a potential risk to human health. Nevertheless, the adverse effects of NPs on the male reproductive system are poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to determine the effects of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) (50 nm) on sperm quality, with a focus on the acrosome defects. After 35 days of intragastric administration, sperm quality was decreased and testicular structures were impaired in mice exposed to PS-NPs in both the medium (1.0 mg/kg) and high dose (10 mg/kg) groups. No significant changes were observed in the low dose (0.2 mg/kg) group. Meanwhile, acrosome parameters including acrosome integrity and acrosome reaction were decreased after the administration of PS-NPs. These findings were consistent with the disruption of acrosome biogenesis, as identified by the changed testicular ultrastructure. Additionally, the findings were further validated using seven marker genes ( Gba2, Pick1, Gopc, Hrb, Zpbp1, Spaca1 and Dpy19l2 ) essential for acrosome formation, which showed that two of these genes ( Gopc and Dpy19l2 ) were significantly down-regulated. Moreover, repressed autophagy was observed in the testes of PS-NPs-exposed mice based on autophagy-related protein expression. This phenomenon was further verified in GC-2spd cells treated with PS-NPs (50 μg/mL, 100 μg/mL, 200 μg/mL for 24 h). The potential role of autophagy in such acrosome defects was explored by using the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA), autophagy activator rapamycin or beclin-1 siRNA. The results showed that Golgi-associated vesicle disorganization was exacerbated with the 3-MA and beclin-1 siRNA pretreatments, but decreased with the rapamycin pretreatment, and the expression of GOPC and DPY19L2 was also altered. These results indicated that autophagy might be involved in the PS-NPs-induced acrosome lesions based on the regulation of two key acrosome-formation proteins, GOPC and DPY19L2. Altogether, our results will provide new insights into the PS-NPs-induced male reproductive impairment.