OAK

Investigating the Pattern of Nanoplastic Deposition in Zebrafish

Metadata Downloads
Abstract
The worldwide production of plastics has constantly increased since their mass production started in
the early 1940s. The reckless production of plastics polluted environment with nanoplastics, which are the plastics
less than 1µm in size. It is easy for the organisms near the base of food chains such as zooplankton to ingest
nanoplastics. Also, nanoplastics accumulated in organisms are transferred along the food chain, and eventually,
apex predators including humans intake substantial amounts of plastics. It is estimated that the frequency of
occurrence of the plastic debris in the open-ocean surface is more than 80%, and the dominant size of these plastic
particles is between 1 and 10mm. Furthermore, emerging evidence shows that the nanoplastics accumulated in
digestive tracks can have negative effects including neural damage. However, the study finding the method to
reduce nanoplastic accumulation is still at the beginning. Here, I aimed to investigate the molecular basis of
nanoplastic accumulation in the digestive system and ultimately suggest a method to reduce the accumulation. To
achieve this, I analyzed the accumulation pattern of nanoplastics after the acute exposure of polystyrene
nanoplastics to the zebrafish model system and found that the mid-intestine is the most preferred place of
nanoplastic accumulation. Also, I showed that accumulated nanoplastic in mid-intestine is not egested for few
days after the termination of nanoplastic exposure. Accordingly, I changed the feeding regime of zebrafish
embryos to examine whether the nanoplastic accumulation can be altered by intestinal condition. I observed that
the embryos fed with a high fat diet had fewer amounts of nanoplastics in their guts. These data suggest that a
high fat diet can reduce the accumulation of nanoplastics in the mid-intestine.
Author(s)
Hyunsoo Kim
Issued Date
2023
Type
Thesis
URI
https://scholar.gist.ac.kr/handle/local/19419
Alternative Author(s)
김현수
Department
대학원 생명과학부
Advisor
Jin, Suk-Won
Degree
Master
Appears in Collections:
Department of Life Sciences > 3. Theses(Master)
공개 및 라이선스
  • 공개 구분공개
파일 목록
  • 관련 파일이 존재하지 않습니다.

Items in Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.