Caco-2-derived spheroids and Organ-on-a-Chip for Food Safety Risk Assessment: Mechanisms of Intestinal Inflammation Induced by 20 nm Polystyrene Nanoplastics

ABSTRACT: Microplastics released from food packaging have become an emerging food safety concern and may contribute to intestinal inflammation. This study employed Caco-2-derived spheroids combined with self-developed microfluidic organ-on-a-chip technology to systematically investigate the effects of 20 nm polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) on oxidative stress and functional homeostasis in the three-dimensional (3D) intestinal epithelial microenvironment. We detected oxidative stress markers, antioxidant capacity, inflammatory factors, and epithelial function indicators; evaluated Villin and ZO-1 expression by immunofluorescence staining; performed metabolomic analysis on chip effluents; identified candidate targets (ALOX5) through network toxicology and exploratory molecular docking; and conducted in silico single-cell gene knockout simulations for exploratory analysis. The results demonstrated that 40 μg/mL and 400 μg/mL PS-NPs could induce intestinal damage. This study is the first to integrate Caco-2-derived spheroids and organ-on-a-chip for nanoplastic toxicity evaluation, which provides a novel experimental platform and theoretical basis for investigating mechanisms underlying nanoplastic toxicity and risk assessment of food-related nanoplastics

INSTRUMENT(S): Liquid Chromatography MS - negative - reversed-phase-chromatography, Liquid Chromatography MS - positive - reversed-phase-chromatography

PROVIDER: MTBLS15198 | MetaboLights | 2026-10-19

REPOSITORIES: MetaboLights