Impact of microplastics on the human digestive system: From basic to clinical

Figure 6 The role that microplastics play in the cGAS/STING pathway. Microplastics induce oxidative stress, produce a large number of reactive oxygen species, damage DNA in the nucleus, and induce mitochondrial autopahgy. Damaged DNA enters the cytoplasm and interacts with double-stranded DNA sensor cGAS to catalyse guanosine triphosphate and adenosine triphosphate to form cyclic GMP-AMP. Cyclic GMP-AMP binds to STING homomeric diplosomes to activate downstream pathway and induce increased expression of transcription factors interferon regulatory factor 3 and phosphorylated nuclear factor-kappaB. Phosphorylated nuclear factor-kappaB, in turn, amplifies the action of the cGAS/STING signal. MPs: Microplastics; ROS: Reactive oxygen species; AMPK: Adenosine5’-monophosphate-activated protein kinase; ULK1: UNC-51-like kinase; IRF3: Interferon regulatory factor 3; p-NFκB: Phosphorylated nuclear factor-kappaB; cGAMP: Cyclic GMP-AMP; ATP: Adenosine triphosphate; GTP: Guanosine triphosphate.