Given their pervasiveness in the environment, particularly in aquatic ecosystems, plastics are posing a growing concern worldwide. Many vertebrates and invertebrates in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems exhibit microplastic (MP) uptake and accumulation. Some studies have indicated the fatal impacts of MPs on animals and their possible transfer through food chains. Thus, it is crucial to study MP pollution and its impacts on environment-sensitive and globally threatened animal groups, such as amphibians, which also play an important role in the energy transfer between ecosystems. Unfortunately, research in this field is lacking and sources of organized information are also scarce. Hence, we systematically reviewed published literature on MPs in amphibians to fill the existing knowledge gap. Our review revealed that most of the previous studies have focused on MP bioaccumulation in amphibians, whereas, only a few research highlighted its impacts. We found that more than 80% of the studied species exhibited MP accumulation. MPs were reported to persist in different organs for a long time and get transferred to other trophic levels. They can also exhibit cytotoxic and mutagenic effects and may have fatal impacts. Moreover, they can increase the disease susceptibility of amphibians. Our study concludes the MPs as a potential threat to amphibians and urges increasing the scope and frequency of research on MP pollution and its impacts on this vulnerable animal group. We also provide a generalized method for studying MPs in amphibians with future perspectives and research directions. Our study is significant for extending the knowledge of MPs and their impacts on amphibians and guiding prospective research.

Self-assembling peptides serve as a versatile tool in stem cell and tissue engineering for advancing next-generation medical therapies.

Cyclic stretch applied to cells induces the reorganization of stress fibers. However, the correlation between the reorganization of stress fiber subtypes and strain-dependent responses of the cytoplasm and nucleus has remained unclear. Here, we investigated the dynamic involvement of stress fiber subtypes in the orientation and elongation of cyclically stretched epithelial cells. We applied uniaxial cyclic stretches at 5%, 10%, and 15% strains to cells followed by the release of the mechanical stretch. Dorsal, transverse arcs, and peripheral stress fibers were mainly involved in the cytoplasm responses whereas perinuclear cap fibers were associated with the reorientation and elongation of the nucleus. Dorsal stress fibers and transverse arcs rapidly responded within 15 min regardless of the strain magnitude to facilitate the subsequent changes in the orientation and elongation of the cytoplasm. The cyclic stretches induced the additional formation of perinuclear cap fibers and their increased number was almost maintained with a slight decline after 2-h-long stretch release. The slow formation and high stability of perinuclear cap fibers were linked to the slow reorientation kinetics and partial morphology recovery of nucleus in the presence or absence of cyclic stretches. The reorganization of stress fiber subtypes occurred in accordance with the reversible distribution of myosin II. These findings allowed us to propose a model for stretch-induced responses of the cytoplasm and nucleus in epithelial cells based on different mechanoadaptive properties of stress fiber subtypes.