Early-life exposure to polypropylene microplastics and DEHP induces ASD-relevant neurodevelopmental alterations involving mTOR-regulated autophagy impairment

Yang G, Gong C, Zheng X, Chen H, Wang Y, Zhang H, Hu F, Wan J, Zhu Z, Sun X, Zhang L, Li R · 2026 · Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety · Atlas ID YANG2026

What this study shows

PP-MPs and DEHP activate mTOR and impair autophagy, inducing ASD-like neurodevelopmental deficits in mice; rapamycin rescues autophagic flux and social/behavioral phenotypes.

Abstract

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Early-life exposure of ICR mice to polypropylene microplastics (PP-MPs) and/or DEHP caused ASD-relevant neurodevelopmental alterations including social interaction deficits, anxiety, and neuronal/synaptic damage in the prefrontal cortex. Proteomic analysis identified the mTOR signaling pathway as a key mechanism. PP-MPs/DEHP exposure activated mTOR signaling with autophagic impairment and dysregulated synaptic plasticity. Rapamycin restored autophagic activity and ameliorated ASD-relevant neurodevelopmental alterations, confirming mTOR-regulated autophagic impairment as the mechanistic basis.

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At a glance

Evidence type	A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Mouse (ICR, early-life exposure model)); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type	4 - Animal Study
Model system	Mouse (ICR, early-life exposure model)
Journal	Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
Year	2026
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-08-22
Source	DOI 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2026.120659

Extracted findings

Intervention	Polypropylene microplastics (PP-MPs); DEHP; Rapamycin (rescue)
Target	mTOR signaling; autophagy; Shank3; Nlgn1 (synaptic plasticity)
Model	Mouse
Effect	mTOR hyperactivation + autophagy impairment mediates ASD-like neurotoxicity from early-life plastic/plasticizer exposure; mTOR inhibition is protective

Cite this paper

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Yang, G., Gong, C., Zheng, X., Chen, H., Wang, Y., Zhang, H., Hu, F., Wan, J., Zhu, Z., Sun, X., Zhang, L., & Li, R. (2026). Early-life exposure to polypropylene microplastics and DEHP induces ASD-relevant neurodevelopmental alterations involving mTOR-regulated autophagy impairment. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2026.120659

@article{YANG2026,
  author       = {Yang, G. and Gong, C. and Zheng, X. and Chen, H. and Wang, Y. and Zhang, H. and Hu, F. and Wan, J. and Zhu, Z. and Sun, X. and Zhang, L. and Li, R.},
  title        = {{Early-life exposure to polypropylene microplastics and DEHP induces ASD-relevant neurodevelopmental alterations involving mTOR-regulated autophagy impairment}},
  journal      = {Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.ecoenv.2026.120659},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper.

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record YANG2026) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/YANG2026/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_YANG2026,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record YANG2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/YANG2026/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}