Kopatz, Verena (Medical University of Vienna) Verena Kopatz Kenner, Lukas (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna / Medical University of Vienna / Center for Biomarker Research in Medicine ) Lukas Kenner Hollóczki, Oldamur (University of Debrecen) Oldamur Hollóczki Vethaak, A Dick (Utrecht University / Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) A Dick Vethaak Widder, Joachim (Medical University of Vienna) Joachim Widder Pichler, Verena (University of Vienna / Center for Biomarker Research in Medicine) Verena Pichler Keimowitz, Alison S (Vassar College) Alison S Keimowitz Kovács, Tibor (University of Debrecen) Tibor Kovács Wen, Kevin (Vassar College) Kevin Wen MDPI 2023 Humans are continuously exposed to polymeric materials such as in textiles, car tires and packaging. Unfortunately, their break down products pollute our environment, leading to widespread contamination with micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs). The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is an important biological barrier that protects the brain from harmful substances. In our study we performed short term uptake studies in mice with orally administered polystyrene micro-/nanoparticles (9.55 µm, 1.14 µm, 0.293 µm). We show that nanometer sized particles-but not bigger particles-reach the brain within only 2 h after gavage. To understand the transport mechanism, we performed coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations on the interaction of DOPC bilayers with a polystyrene nanoparticle in the presence and absence of various coronae. We found that the composition of the biomolecular corona surrounding the plastic particles was critical for passage through the BBB. Cholesterol molecules enhanced the uptake of these contaminants into the membrane of the BBB, whereas the protein model inhibited it. These opposing effects could explain the passive transport of the particles into the brain. PDFDocument en 2023-05-31T13:58:23.438Z Molecular-Dynamics; Polystyrene Nanoparticles; Initial Configurations; Microplastics; Simulation; Particles; Package; Gromacs; Cells; Model 682954 b application/pdf CC BY 4.0 International