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Microplastics in Human Bile Drive Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Senescence
Microplastics have become a defining environmental signature of modern life, turning up in oceans, soil, food, drinking water, and even the air. But their biological fate inside the human body remains far less understood. A new study suggests that these particles may be doing more than simply passing through. Instead, they may be accumulating in one of the body’s most overlooked fluids—bile—and leaving behind measurable cellular damage that could shape future thinking about environmentally driven biliary injury and long‑term health effects. As the authors noted in their abstract, “the long-term accumulation patterns and chronic toxic effects of microplastics within the human biliary system are largely unknown,” underscoring the need for deeper investigation into how these particles behave in the enterohepatic circulation.
Researchers from the Tenth Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University (Dongguan People’s Hospital), Sun Yat-sen University, Guilin Medical University, and collaborating institutions reported the findings in Environmental Science and Ecotechnology. Their study, “Microplastics accumulate in human bile and drive cholangiocyte senescence,” provides the first direct evidence that microplastics are not only present in bile but may also contribute to mitochondrial dysfunction and premature aging in cholangiocytes, the epithelial cells that line the bile ducts.
The team collected bile from 14 surgical patients (five without gallstones and nine with gallstones) and used a multimodal analytical approach—pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, laser direct infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy—to characterize the particles. According to the paper, “we show the universal presence of microplastics in human bile,” identifying six polymer types dominated by polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene, with most particles measuring 20–50 μm. Patients with gallstones carried substantially higher microplastic burdens, raising questions about whether biliary stasis or altered bile composition may influence microplastic retention.
To probe biological effects, the researchers exposed cultured human cholangiocytes to low-dose polystyrene nanoplastics for seven days, simulating chronic exposure. The cells exhibited mitochondrial dysfunction, elevated reactive oxygen species, reduced ATP, Drp1‑mediated mitochondrial fission, and G1 cell‑cycle arrest—hallmarks of senescence. As the authors wrote, chronic exposure “induces mitochondrial dysfunction-associated senescence in cholangiocytes,” suggesting a mechanistic link between environmental microplastics and biliary aging.
One of the most intriguing findings is that melatonin, a widely used antioxidant, partially reversed the mitochondrial and inflammatory damage. While far from a therapeutic recommendation, the result hints at a potential intervention point and gives the study translational relevance.
The work reframes the biliary system as something far more active than a simple transit channel. The data indicate that bile can serve as a reservoir for microplastics and that prolonged exposure may age cholangiocytes by driving mitochondrial dysfunction. The partial rescue with melatonin adds a mechanistic foothold for future intervention, even as the authors caution that broader human studies are essential.
For biotech, the implications are broad. The work highlights bile as a clinically accessible matrix for exposure assessment, opening the door to new diagnostics for environmental toxicology. The mitochondrial stress signature aligns with pathways already being targeted by companies developing senolytics, mitoprotective agents, and anti‑inflammatory therapeutics. The authors wrote that the research provides “a mechanistic foundation for assessing the health risks of plastic pollution and developing therapeutic interventions for environmentally driven biliary disorders.”
The post Microplastics in Human Bile Drive Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Senescence appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
You know when you are at the eye doctor getting an updated prescription, and suddenly the world snaps into sharper focus? Physicists at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, have now done something similar for electron microscopy. By introducing phase contrast into a cryo‑electron microscope, they have delivered dramatically sharper images of some of biology’s smallest and most elusive proteins.
The advance comes from a new laser phase plate (LPP), described in the paper “Laser phase plate improves structure determination of small proteins by cryo‑EM,” which was published recently in Science. Led by physicist Holger Mueller, PhD, of UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the team demonstrated that a laser‑driven phase plate can overcome one of cryo‑EM’s most persistent limitations: poor contrast for small proteins.
Cryo‑EM has transformed structural biology over the past decade, earning a Nobel Prize in 2017 for enabling high‑resolution structures without crystallization. But despite its impact, the technique still struggles with proteins below ~70 kilodaltons—a size range that includes about 90% of the human proteome. “Because of signal-to-noise limitations, the majority of human and animal proteins are too small to be analyzed by these methods [cryo-EM and cryoelectron tomography]. The increase in signal-to-noise ratio provided by this laser phase plate is expected to overcome these important limitations.”
The new LPP begins to address that problem. The LPP uses an intense, continuous‑wave laser to shift the phase of the electron beam itself. This produces true phase contrast without dimming or destabilizing the beam. Mueller described the laser focus as “75 kilowatts focused to a few microns… That’s more powerful than what you use for welding. It has more power than a military laser. It builds up the brightest continuous laser focus ever.”
Installed in a custom Thermo Fisher Titan Krios, the LPP immediately improved the clarity and resolvability of small proteins, including hemoglobin, which sits at the lower limit of what today’s cryo‑EM instruments can handle. As the authors wrote in the abstract: “Here, we show that the laser phase plate (LPP)… enhances the resolution in single-particle reconstruction of small proteins by improving specimen-motion correction, recovery of information from the early frames, as well as particle visualization, 3D classification, and alignment.”
These improvements were achieved using standard defocus ranges and reconstruction workflows. “For the most challenging cases—small particles, bad specimens—the laser produces a very considerable advantage,” Mueller said.
The impact extends beyond single‑particle analysis. Cryo‑electron tomography (cryo‑ET), which assembles multiple angular views of a molecule or protein into a three-dimensional image, stands to benefit even more. “With cryo-ET, we’re looking at small, very complicated cellular material that’s incredibly crowded inside the cell,” said Bridget Carragher, PhD, founding technical director of imaging at Biohub. “It’s like a forest of trees, and you’re trying to find one leaf on one tree in there. Cryo-ET needs a dramatic step forward in contrast, so we can start to see what’s going on inside the cell. That’s what the laser phase plate promises to give us.”
Biohub is developing a dual‑laser version of the system, designed to reduce component wear and minimize aberrations. Meanwhile, Mueller’s team is pushing toward imaging proteins as small as 17 kilodaltons, a threshold that would open access to vast regions of the human proteome previously invisible to cryo‑EM.
“This technology is a step function change for biology,” said Stephani Otte, PhD, Biohub’s vice president of imaging science. “What was once invisible will become visible—and that changes everything about how we understand disease.”
“The bottom line is, if you have a large protein and a really good sample—a fresh one or one frozen without bubbles, for example—you may not need the phase plate to get a single, high-quality image. But for a small protein and a bad sample, laser-on is best,” Mueller said. “This could fill an enormous gap in our knowledge of protein structures that can’t be crystallized or are too small for today’s cryo-EM. And it will be revolutionary for cryo-ET.”
The post Laser‑Driven Phase Contrast Enhances Cryo‑EM Resolution of Small Proteins appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
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STAT+: Updated: Tracking RFK Jr.’s promises to remake health in America
Updated June 11, 2026
WASHINGTON — A pledge to “Make America Healthy Again” earned Robert F. Kennedy Jr. his job atop U.S. health agencies a year and some change ago. He’s now had the opportunity to turn his words into action, with mixed results.
“All one needs” to prove the health secretary’s attentiveness is to “review my unprecedented list of accomplishments on a wide range of issues, all of which I drove,” Kennedy posted on X on Wednesday in response to a journalist.
Updated June 11, 2026
WASHINGTON — A pledge to “Make America Healthy Again” earned Robert F. Kennedy Jr. his job atop U.S. health agencies a year and some change ago. He’s now had the opportunity to turn his words into action, with mixed results.
“All one needs” to prove the health secretary’s attentiveness is to “review my unprecedented list of accomplishments on a wide range of issues, all of which I drove,” Kennedy posted on X on Wednesday in response to a journalist.
Can any of the new obesity medications in development stand out from the pack? Which company just broke records with its IPO? And will the Food and Drug Administration allow greater access to experimental peptides?
We discuss all that and more on this week’s episode of “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast.
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Laser‑Driven Phase Contrast Enhances Cryo‑EM Resolution of Small Proteins
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The final 6 ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes might feel like a full season
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Meet Superman’s grandfather in new trailer for Krypton
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