About the Study
Journal: Nature Cardiovascular Research
The study is titled “An engineered human cardiac tissue model reveals contributions of systemic lupus erythematosus autoantibodies to myocardial injury.”
Authors are: Sharon Fleischer1,*, Trevor R. Nash1,*, Manuel A. Tamargo1, Roberta I. Lock1, Gabriela Venturini2, Margaretha Morsink1, Pamela L. Graney1, Vanessa Li1, Morgan J. Lamberti1, , Martin Liberman1, Youngbin Kim1, Daniel N. Tavakol1, Richard Z. Zhuang1, Jaron Whitehead1, Richard A. Friedman3,4, Rajesh K. Soni5, Jonathan G. Seidman2, Christine E. Seidman2,6,7, Laura Geraldino-Pardilla8, Robert Winchester8,9 and Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic1,8,10,‡
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
2Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
3Biomedical Informatics Shared Resource, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
4Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
5Proteomics and Macromolecular Crystallography Shared Resource, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
6Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
7Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
8Department of Medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
9Columbia Center for Translational Immunology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
10College of Dental Medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
The study was supported by. National Institutes of Health (P41EB027062 and 3R01HL076485 to G.V-N.), the American Heart Association (19TPA34910217 to R.W.), a Pfizer Aspire research award (WI237809 2018 ASPIRE US Rheumatology to R.W.), and the National Science Foundation (NSF1647837 to G.V-N.).
The authors declare no financial or other conflicts of interest.
Three Things to Know about Microplastics and Nanoplastics
Ubiquitous Presence
Microplastics, tiny particles less than 5 millimeters in size, have been found in environments worldwide—from the deepest parts of the ocean to the Arctic ice, and even in the air we breathe and the food we consume. In environments, microplastics can continue to break down, and form nanoplastics, plastic particles with sizes less than 1 micrometer.
Hidden in Plain Sight
A recent study by Dr. Yan has revealed that bottled water can contain hundreds of thousands of nanoplastic particles per liter. These tiny bits are often invisible to the naked eye but can be ingested by humans and animals, potentially impacting health.
Persistent Pollutants
Microplastics are highly resistant to environmental degradation. They can linger in ecosystems for decades, accumulating and posing long-term risks to marine life and food safety as they absorb and concentrate toxic pollutants. Due to the small particle size, nanoplastics can enter the human body and transport to vital organs such as the liver, potentially leading to negative health outcomes. The funded NOAA project will build smart plastic collection systems, and if successful, can largely reduce the riverine input to ocean environments.