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Fig. 5 | Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Fig. 5

From: Short- and long-term polystyrene nano- and microplastic exposure promotes oxidative stress and divergently affects skin cell architecture and Wnt/beta-catenin signaling

Fig. 5

Activation of Nrf2 signaling in skin cells following NMP uptake. a Study scheme. b Skin cells were grown on glass coverslips, incubated with NMP, fixed, and subjected to fluorescent staining to determine the expression and distribution of the Nrf2 protein (red or green, arrowheads showed nuclear staining in contrast to ctrl). c Quantitative mRNA expression analyses of the Nrf2 signaling pathway and its downstream targets. d Nrf2 protein levels. e Distribution and expression of HO-1 after nuclear Nrf2 translocation and activation were observed using immunofluorescence labeling in skin cells after mix-NMP uptake. The cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar is 50 µm. f–g Protein expression heatmap of Nrf2 and its downstream targets determined by WES (f), and representative WES images of Nqo1, Sod1, and catalase (g). For qPCR and WES, data were normalized either to GAPDH/RLP13A or Gapdh, respectively, and untreated controls (ctrl), and presented as mean + SEM. Statistical analysis was done by unpaired, two-tailed Student’s t test (n > 3) with *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, and ***p ≤ 0.001

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Particle and Fibre Toxicology

ISSN: 1743-8977

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