o:1636 Micro- and Nanoplastics Breach the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB): Biomolecular Corona's Role Revealed en 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. Molecular-Dynamics; Polystyrene Nanoparticles; Initial Configurations; Microplastics; Simulation; Particles; Package; Gromacs; Cells; Model 1552099 10.3390/nano13081404 2023-05-31T13:58:23.438Z 44 yes 46 Verena Kopatz Medical University of Vienna 0000-0002-7512-1398 Lukas Kenner University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna / Medical University of Vienna / Center for Biomarker Research in Medicine person 0000-0003-2184-1338 Oldamur Hollóczki University of Debrecen person A Dick Vethaak Utrecht University / Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam person Joachim Widder Medical University of Vienna person 0000-0002-9972-6690 Verena Pichler University of Vienna / Center for Biomarker Research in Medicine person 0000-0003-4544-2438 Alison S Keimowitz Vassar College person Tibor Kovács University of Debrecen person Kevin Wen Vassar College person application/pdf 682954 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:1636 no yes 16 70 1552253 Nanomaterials 10 13 8 MDPI 2023