A research team led by Prof. Weihua Huang from Wuhan University in Wuhan, China, has recently developed a flexible electrochemical sensor to map nanoplastic-induced oxidative stress in human cortical organoids. The study introduced a depth-controllable sensing strategy based on platinum nanoparticle-modified carbon nanotube fiber (Pt/CNF), enabling real-time, in situ monitoring of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), a key oxidative stress marker, within three-dimensional brain-like tissues.
The team published their study in Nano Research on July 2, 2026.
Nanoplastics are emerging environmental pollutants that may cross biological barriers and enter the brain. Previous studies have shown that nanoplastic exposure can induce neurotoxicity through multiple pathways, with oxidative stress serving as a key early event. However, it has remained unclear how deeply nanoplastics penetrate brain-like tissues and where the associated oxidative stress occurs within a three-dimensional human brain model.
To address this challenge, the research team used human cortical organoids as an in vitro model of cortical tissue. These organoids, derived from human stem cells, can partially reproduce the cellular composition and spatial organization of the human cerebral cortex. Compared with conventional endpoint methods such as immunofluorescence staining, proteomic analysis, single-cell RNA sequencing and quantitative polymerase chain reaction, flexible electrochemical sensing provides a way to capture dynamic biochemical changes within intact 3D tissues.
The Pt/CNF sensor developed in this study combines the mechanical flexibility of carbon nanotube fiber with the catalytic activity of platinum nanoparticles toward H 2 O 2 . This design allows the sensor to be inserted into soft cortical organoids with reduced mechanical disturbance while maintaining sensitive electrochemical detection.
“Our goal was to build a tool that can enter a human brain-like tissue model and measure biochemical changes within it with minimal disruption,” said Prof. Huang, corresponding author of the study. “This makes it possible to ask not only whether nanoplastics induce oxidative stress, but also where that stress occurs in three-dimensional tissue.”
The researchers exposed human cortical organoids to 50 nm polystyrene nanoplastics as a model pollutant. The nanoplastics gradually crossed the outer boundary of the organoids and moved from the peripheral region toward the interior. Quantitative imaging showed that their average diffusion depth was approximately 20 μm after one day and approximately 55 μm after three days. By day six, the maximum penetration depth reached approximately 150 μm, but more than 80% of the particles remained within 100 μm of the organoid surface.
Using Pt/CNF electrodes with active sensing lengths of 100 and 300 μm, the team further quantified H 2 O 2 levels at different tissue depths. The results showed that H 2 O 2 levels in nanoplastic-exposed organoids increased over time, indicating a cumulative oxidative stress response during prolonged exposure. More importantly, comparison between the two electrode lengths showed that the oxidative stress signal was largely confined to the nanoplastic penetration region. Deeper organoid regions not directly exposed to nanoplastics did not show an obvious cascading amplification effect during the monitoring period.
This work provides a quantitative profile of nanoplastic-induced neurotoxicity in a human 3D brain model. It also demonstrates that depth-controllable flexible electrochemical sensing can serve as a technical platform for environmental health risk assessment and drug screening in organoids and other 3D tissue models.
Other contributors include Yiwen Jing, Yi Zhao, Ting Wang, Yujun Zhang, Yanbing Yang, Pu Chen and Yanling Liu from Wuhan University; and Xiaowen Du and Wanying Zhu from Nanjing Medical University.
This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2022YFA1104802), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22474095), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2042026kf0046).
About the Author
Prof. Weihua Huang is a Hongyi Distinguished Professor in the College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences at Wuhan University, China. His research focuses on biomedical analytical chemistry, with particular interests in bioelectroanalysis, flexible sensing, microfluidic chips, and single-cell analysis. He has led more than 10 national research projects, including projects supported by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, major programs of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the National Key Research and Development Program of China. He has published more than 150 SCI papers as a corresponding author in journals including Nat. Nanotechnol., Acc. Chem. Res., PNAS, JACS, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.. For more information, please visit his research homepage: https://huanglab.whu.edu.cn.
DOI Link:
https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2026.94908791
About Nano Research
Nano Research is a peer-reviewed, open access, international and interdisciplinary research journal, sponsored by Tsinghua University and the Chinese Chemical Society, published by Tsinghua University Press on the platform SciOpen. It publishes original high-quality research and significant review articles on all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, ranging from basic aspects of the science of nanoscale materials to practical applications of such materials. After 18 years of development, it has become one of the most influential academic journals in the nano field. Nano Research has published more than 1,000 papers every year from 2022, with its cumulative count surpassing 8,000 articles. In 2025 InCites Journal Citation Reports, its 2025 IF is 9.4 (8.3, 5 years), and it continues to be the Q1 area among the four subject classifications. Nano Research Award, established by Nano Research together with TUP and Springer Nature in 2013, and Nano Research Young Innovators (NR45) Awards, established by Nano Research in 2018, have become international academic awards with global influence.
Nano Research
Flexible electrodes map nanoplastic-induced oxidative stress in human cortical organoids
2-Jul-2026