Critical role of model organism selection in assessing weak urban electromagnetic field effects: Implications for human health.

The impact of electromagnetic fields on human health has been investigated in recent years using various model organisms, yet the findings remain unclear. In our work, we examined the effect of less-explored, weak electromagnetic fields commonly found in the urban environments we inhabit. We studied different impacts of electromagnetic fields with a frequency of 50 Hz and a combination of 50 Hz and 150 Hz, on both yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and human macrophages. We determined growth, survival, and protein composition (SDS-PAGE) (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and morphology of macrophages (human monocytic cell line). In yeast, the sole observed change after 24 h of exposure was the extension of the exponential growth phase by 17 h. Conversely, macrophages exhibited morphological transformations from the anti-inflammatory to the pro-inflammatory type within just 2 h of exposure to the electromagnetic field. Our results suggest that effects of electromagnetic field largely depend on the model organism. The selection of an appropriate model organism proves essential for the study of the specific impacts of electromagnetic fields. The potential risk associated with the presence of pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages in everyday urban environments primarily arises from the continual promotion of inflammatory reactions within a healthy organism and deserves further investigation.

Airway Smooth Muscle Regulated by Oxidative Stress in COPD.

Since COPD is a heterogeneous disease, a specific anti-inflammatory therapy for this disease has not been established yet. Oxidative stress is recognized as a major predisposing factor to COPD related inflammatory responses, resulting in pathological features of small airway fibrosis and emphysema. However, little is known about effects of oxidative stress on airway smooth muscle. Cigarette smoke increases intracellular Ca2+ concentration and enhances response to muscarinic agonists in human airway smooth muscle. Cigarette smoke also enhances proliferation of these cells with altered mitochondrial protein. Hydrogen peroxide and 8-isoprostans are increased in the exhaled breath condensate in COPD. These endogenous oxidants cause contraction of tracheal smooth muscle with Ca2+ dynamics through Ca2+ channels and with Ca2+ sensitization through Rho-kinase. TNF-α and growth factors potentiate proliferation of these cells by synthesis of ROS. Oxidative stress can alter the function of airway smooth muscle through Ca2+ signaling. These phenotype changes are associated with manifestations (dyspnea, wheezing) and pathophysiology (airflow limitation, airway remodeling, airway hyperresponsiveness). Therefore, airway smooth muscle is a therapeutic target against COPD; oxidative stress should be included in treatable traits for COPD to advance precision medicine. Research into Ca2+ signaling related to ROS may contribute to the development of a novel agent for COPD.

Isolamento, caracterização e análise da resposta à injúria de células tronco epiteliais da mucosa bucal humana / Isolation, characterization and response to damage of humam epithelial stem cells from human oral mucosa

Avanços na identificação e caracterização de diferentes populações de células tronco tem melhorado as perspectivas do seu uso clínico. A maioria dos estudos obtêm as células-tronco com base na expressão de marcadores de superfície celular e testa as suas propriedades por meio de ensaios funcionais in vitro e in vivo. Na presente pesquisa foram isoladas diferentes populações de células epiteliais com base na expressão de dois marcadores de células-tronco epiteliais descritos pela literatura, o receptor de neurotrofina p75 (p75NTR) e o receptor de transferrina 1 (CD71). Uma vez isso feito, foi avaliado a co-expressão de outros marcadores de células-tronco epiteliais, como as integrinas 6 e 1, e realizado ensaios de eficiência de formação de colônias, potencial de crescimento celular, capacidade de reconstrução epitelial in vitro, análise da resposta ao trauma e avaliação da capacidade de auto renovação. Os resultados mostram que as células p75NTR+ tem um desempenho funcional melhor do que as p75NTR- na maioria dos ensaios funcionais realizados, exceto pela capacidade de responder ao trauma e de se autorenovar. Ademais, comprovou-se que células p75NTR+ expressam em maior proporção as integrinas 6 e 1 e que o isolamento de células por dupla marcação (p75NTR+CD71-) possibilita a obtenção de uma população de células epiteliais ainda mais enriquecida com estes marcadores. No entanto, foi observado também que independentemente da população celular estudada e do tempo em cultivo, as populações de células epiteliais alteraram drasticamente o seu fenótipo quando de tal forma que as populações celulares inicialmente positivas se tornaram majoritariamente negativas e que as populações celulares inicialmente negativas passaram a ter células positivas em seu meio.

Recent advances in cell sorting and characterization technics of stem cells have provided new insights and perspectives for clinical applications of this particular cell population. Most of the studies isolat stem cells based on the expression of cell surface markers and evaluate their stem cells-like proprieties by performing in vitro and in vivo assays. Here we isolated different populations of keratinocytes based on the expression of the epithelial stem cell markers neurotrophin receptor p75 (p75NTR) and transferrin receptor 1 (CD71). The co-expression of other epithelial stem markers such as integrins 6 and 1 was also assessed and in vitro functional assays such as colony-forming efficiency; long-term growth potential, in vitro epithelial reconstruction-capacity and response to damage and self-renew capacity. Our results showed that p75NTR+ve cells have better functional proprieties in most of the assays however they did not respond to damage nether presented self-renew capacity. Additionally, p75NTR-ve cells express higher percentage of other epithelial stem cell markers such as integrins 6 and 1 when compared to p75NTR-ve cells and the double staining (p75NTR+veCD71-ve) contributes to isolate a more enriched cell population based on the expression of the integrins. Nevertheless, independently of the cell population or of the amount of time in culture, cells have changed dramatically their phenotype in a way that the cell population initially p75NTR+ve lost the expression of the p75NTR and the negative population have gained it.