# NIH grant: Cardiac Effects of Weathered Microplastics (1R16ES038835-01) — retained record

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[original source ↗](https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/1R16ES038835-01)

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NIH grant 1R16ES038835-01: Cardiac Effects of Weathered Microplastics
Institute: {'code': 'ES', 'abbreviation': 'NIEHS', 'name': 'National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences', 'admin_org_id': '12500022', 'admin_funding_url': ''}. PI: Yuejin  Li. Award: $142399.
Start: 2026-08-07T00:00:00.
PROJECT SUMMARY
Microplastics (MPs) are increasingly detected in human tissues, including the heart. An observational study has
linked their presence to elevated risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and death. Foundational work with
pristine, uniform, spherical polystyrene (PS) has provided evidence that PS-MP can disrupt cardiomyocyte
contractility, calcium handling, and electrophysiological stability at environmentally relevant concentrations.
However, the spherical pristine PS-MP particles do not reflect what humans encounter in the real world.
Environmental MPs represent a highly varied class of pollutants, encompassing a wide range of physical and
chemical characteristics, including, but not limited to, size, shape, polymer type, chemical additives, absorbed
chemicals, and aging/weathering status. The MPs to which humans are exposed in the real world are primarily
weathered, resulting from their exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, heat, hydrolysis, mechanical abrasion, and
interactions with other environmental chemicals. The weathering process alters the physicochemical properties
of MPs, including surface oxidation, fragmentation, increased roughness, and stronger adsorption – features that
can fundamentally alter MP toxicity. Given that all real-world MPs are inevitably weathered in the natural
environments, a crucial knowledge gap exists: are weathered MPs more harmful to human health?
The goal of this project is to test the central hypothesis that environmentally realistic weathered MPs induce
distinct, and potentially more harmful, biological effects on mammalian hearts than pristine MPs. We will align in
vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo systems to ensure rigorous translational relevance. In Aim 1, human iPSC-derived
cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) and isolated adult mouse cardiomyocytes will be exposed to pristine versus
weathered MPs; we will quantify particle uptake, measure contractility and Ca²⁺ transients, and map perturbed
pathways by RNA-seq and targeted protein assays, with a focus on calcium handling, adrenergic signaling, lipid
metabolism, and estrogen signaling. In Aim 2, mice will undergo chronic oral exposure to pristine versus
weathered MPs. We will evaluate the cardiac consequences of ingesting MPs and the systemic pathways
mediating injury by conducting cardiomyocyte contractility assays and Langendorff-perfused isolated heart
studies under both physiological and pathological conditions, as well as analyzing metabolic, inflammatory, and
biological sex-specific effects. This work will expand the institutional research capacity in cardiotoxicity and
environmental health, establish scalable platforms for testing complex MP pollutants, and provide hands-on
training for undergraduate and graduate students in translational environmental health research.
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