Protein Corona Stability and Removal from PET Microplastics: Analytical and Spectroscopic Evaluation in Simulated...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Materials Science
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Microplastics (MPs) in the gastrointestinal tract rapidly form protein coronas.
• These coronas alter MP surface chemistry and analytical detectability.
• Understanding protein-MP interactions is crucial for toxicological and analytical studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the physicochemical interactions between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics.
• To evaluate the stability of the protein corona under simulated intestinal conditions.
• To develop and validate effective protein corona removal protocols for microplastic analysis.

Main Methods:

• Fluorescence tracking of labeled BSA.
• SDS-PAGE and FTIR spectroscopy for protein and polymer analysis.
• Simulated intestinal exposure with and without digestive enzymes.

Main Results:

• BSA forms a stable, persistent corona on PET microplastics.
• Oxidative treatments alone were insufficient for complete corona removal.
• Combined oxidation with alkaline (KOH) or surfactant (SDS) effectively removed the corona.
• No degradation of PET polymer integrity was observed with any tested protocol.
• FTIR confirmed successful protein signal removal without altering PET functional groups.

Conclusions:

• Protein-PET interactions are robust under simulated biological conditions.
• Effective protein corona removal protocols were established without compromising microplastic integrity.
• These protocols are suitable for diverse microplastic analysis and toxicological applications.