STING1 and Hepatic fibrosis: Shen et al. found that prolonged exposure to microplastics induces DNA damage in the nucleus and mitochondria and that the double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) fragments are translocated into the cytoplasm and triggers the DNA-sensing aptamer STING, which in turn activates the cGAS/STING pathway and initiated a downstream cascade of reactions that translocated NF-κB to the nucleus, upregulated the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and thus ultimately promoted liver fibrosis 20.