Project title: Impact of Nanoplastic Particles on Intestinal Epithelium Health Using a Vascularized Gut-on-a-Chip Model

Project No.: lzp-2025/1-0217

Period: 1 January 2026 – 31 December 2028

Project costs: 300 000,00 EUR

Principal Investigator: Dr. biol. Artūrs Ābols

Project summary:

Nanoplastics (NPLs), small plastic particles formed from the environmental breakdown of larger plastics, are known bioavailable contaminants. Their size enables them to cross biological barriers, interact with epithelial and immune cells, and transport toxic additives and biofilm-forming microbes. These properties highlight the urgent need to understand their effects on human health, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract (GI), a primary site of exposure through ingestion.

Despite mounting evidence linking NPLs to health issues like immune response and inflammation, their impact on gut health using physiologically relevant models remains poorly characterised. The objective of the project is to develop a novel proof-of-principle gut-on-chip model to evaluate the impact and toxicity of NPLs on gut health, focusing on bioaccumulation, translocation, and barrier integrity at the endothelium, epithelium, mucus and immune interface.

The project will result in new insights on the impact of NPLs using a novel physiologically relevant gut-on-chip model, which will be further used for applications in food safety, biomedical research, and efforts to reduce reliance on animal testing. Quantifiable results of the project are 1 Q1/Q2 scientific publication, 1 national project proposal submissions, 3 international conference presentations, 6 public dissemination events, and the active involvement of 1 MSc and 1 BSc student in advanced biotechnology research.

Information published 05.01.2026.