Dual-Drug Loaded Nanobubbles Combined with Sonodynamic and Chemotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Therapy.

Purpose: Chemotherapy remains the primary therapeutic approach for advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). The therapeutic effect of chemotherapy is limited and the toxic side effects are serious. The aim of this study is to develop a nanobubble that is ultrasonically responsive to reduce the toxic side effects of direct chemotherapy. Methods: We developed curcumin/doxorubicin-cis-aconitic anhydride-polyethylene glycol nanobubble (C/DCNB) surface modified with acid-sensitive polyethylene glycol (PEG). And it is loaded with curcumin (CUR) and doxorubicin (DOX), as liposomes at the nanoscale for diagnosis and therapy of tumors. Results: In this study, the acid-sensitive PEG on the surface layer of nanobubbles serves to stabilize them in the blood circulatory system and in normal tissues, while peeling off in the acidic tumor microenvironment (pH 6.8). C/DCNB can identify tumor sites through contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). And ultrasound-mediated nanobubbles promote permeability of the tumor vascular, thus improving the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effects in the tumor, leading to the accumulation of nanobubbles in the tumor. After endocytosis of nanobubbles, drugs are released and curcumin generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) under ultrasound conditions. CUR can enhance the sensitivity of tumor cells to DOX by inhibiting the expression of P-glycoprotein. In vitro and vivo experiments demonstrate that C/DCNB can facilitate contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging while simultaneously delivering drugs, enabling both imaging and treatment. Conclusion: The combination of C/DCNB and ultrasound provides an effective strategy for improving the efficiency of HCC therapy and imaging.

Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate-induced cytotoxicity and its associated mechanisms in human A549 cells.

Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) is a widely used organophosphorus flame retardant and has been detected in various environmental matrices including indoor dust. Inhalation of indoor dust is one of the most important pathways for human exposure to TDCIPP. However, its adverse effects on human lung cells and potential impacts on respiratory toxicity are largely unknown. In the current study, human non-small cell carcinoma (A549) cells were selected as a cell model, and the effects of TDCIPP on cell viability, cell cycle, cell apoptosis, and underlying molecular mechanisms were investigated. Our data indicated a concentration-dependent decrease in the cell viability of A549 cells after exposure to TDCIPP for 48 h, with half lethal concentration (LC50) being 82.6 µM. In addition, TDCIPP caused cell cycle arrest mainly in the G0/G1 phase by down-regulating the mRNA expression of cyclin D1, CDK4, and CDK6, while up-regulating the mRNA expression of p21 and p27. In addition, cell apoptosis was induced via altering the expression levels of Bcl-2, BAX, and BAK. Our study implies that TDCIPP may pose potential health risks to the human respiratory system and its toxicity should not be neglected.

Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate induces endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in mouse spermatocyte GC-2 cells.

Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) is a frequently detected organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) in various environmental media, and has been evidenced as reproductive toxicity. However, its adverse effects on spermatogenic cells are unknown. In this study, mouse spermatocyte GC-2spd (GC-2) cells were selected as an in vitro model, and the impact of mitochondrial structure and function, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, cell apoptosis and the related molecular mechanisms were investigated. Our study indicated that cell viability was decreased significantly in a dose-dependent manner after TDCIPP treatment with the half lethal concentration (LC50) at 82.8 µM, 50.0 µM and 39.6 µM for 24 h, 48 h and 72 h, respectively. An apoptosis was observed by Annexin V-FITC/PI stain. In addition, fragmentation of mitochondrial structure, an increase of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), reduction of cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content, release of cytochrome c and activation of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 activity implicated that Caspase-3 dependent mitochondrial pathway might play a key role in the process of GC-2 cell apoptosis. Furthermore, ER stress induction was convinced by altered morphology of ER and up-regulation of ER targeting genes, including (Bip, eIF2α, ATF4, XBP1, CHOP, ATF6 and Caspase-12). Taken together, these results demonstrate that both mitochondrial apoptotic pathways and ER stress apoptotic pathways might play important roles in the process of apoptosis in GC-2 cells induced by TDCIPP treatment. Therefore, the potential reproductive toxicity of TDCIPP should not be ignored.

Evaluation of the cytotoxic activity of triphenyl phosphate on mouse spermatocytes cells.

Triphenyl phosphate (TPhP) is one of the most commonly found organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) in the environment and the general population. Continuous daily exposure to TPhP may adversely impact male reproductive health. However, few researches were conducted to investigate the direct effects of TPhP on the progress of sperm growth and development. In this study, mouse spermatocyte GC-2spd (GC-2) cells were selected as an in vitro model, the impact of oxidative stress, mitochondrial impairment, DNA damage, cell apoptosis and the related molecular mechanisms were investigated using high content screening (HCS) system. Our study indicated that cell viability was decreased significantly in a dose-dependent manner after TPhP treatment with the half lethal concentration (LC50) at 105.8, 61.61 and 53.23 µM for 24, 48 and 72 h. A concentration-related apoptosis occurrence was observed in GC-2 cells after TPhP exposure for 48 h. In addition, the elevated intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) also observed after exposing to 6, 30 and 60 µM of TPhP. Furthermore, based on the enhancement of pH2AX protein and alteration of nuclear morphology or DNA content, DNA damage might be induced by higher concentration of TPhP treatment. Simultaneously, alteration of mitochondrial structure, enhancement of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), reduction of cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content, altered expression of Bcl-2 family proteins, release of cytochrome c and increase of caspase-3 and caspase-9 activity demonstrated that caspase-3 dependent mitochondrial pathway might play a key role in the process of GC-2 cell apoptosis. Taken together, these results showed that TPhP was a mitochondrial toxicant and apoptotic inducer, which might trigger alike responses in human spermatogenic cells. Therefore, the potential reproductive toxicity of TPhP should not be ignored.

CD73, a Promising Therapeutic Target of Diclofenac, Promotes Metastasis of Pancreatic Cancer through a Nucleotidase Independent Mechanism.

CD73, a cell surface-bound nucleotidase, facilitates extracellular adenosine formation by hydrolyzing 5'-AMP to adenosine. Several studies have shown that CD73 plays an essential role in immune escape, cell proliferation and tumor angiogenesis, making it an attractive target for cancer therapies. However, there are limited clinical benefits associated with the mainstream enzymatic inhibitors of CD73, suggesting that the mechanism underlying the role of CD73 in tumor progression is more complex than anticipated, and further investigation is necessary. In this study, CD73 is found to overexpress in the cytoplasm of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells and promotes metastasis in a nucleotidase-independent manner, which cannot be restrained by the CD73 monoclonal antibodies or small-molecule enzymatic inhibitors. Furthermore, CD73 promotes the metastasis of PDAC by binding to the E3 ligase TRIM21, competing with the Snail for its binding site. Additionally, a CD73 transcriptional inhibitor, diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is more effective than the CD73 blocking antibody for the treatment of PDAC metastasis. Diclofenac also enhances the therapeutic efficacy of gemcitabine in the spontaneous KPC (LSL-KrasG12D/+ , LSL-Trp53R172H/+ , and Pdx-1-Cre) pancreatic cancer model. Therefore, diclofenac may be an effective anti-CD73 therapy, when used alone or in combination with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy regimen, for metastatic PDAC.

Chlorinated organophosphorus flame retardants-induced mitochondrial abnormalities and the correlation with progesterone production in mLTC-1 cells.

Environmental monitoring data have indicated that three chlorinated organophosphorus flame retardants (Cl-OPFRs), including tris(2-chloroethyl)-phosphate (TCEP), tris(2-chloropropyl)-phosphate (TCPP), and tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)-phosphate (TDCPP) are the predominant chemicals in various environmental matrices and exhibit reproductive endocrine disrupting activities. Currently, mitochondrial abnormality is a new paradigm for evaluating chemical-mediated cell dysfunction. However, a comprehensive correlation between these two aspects of Cl-OPFRs remains unclear. In this research, the effects of TCEP, TCPP, and TDCPP on progesterone production and mitochondrial impairment were investigated by using mouse Leydig tumor cells (mLTC-1). The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values at 48 h exposure indicated that the rank order of anti-androgenic activity was TDCPP > TCPP. Whereas, TCEP exhibited elevation of progesterone production. At concentrations close to IC50 of progesterone production by TCPP and TDCPP, the elevation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), depletion of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), reduction of cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content, and alteration of mitochondrial structures was observed. In addition, the expression of main genes related to progesterone synthesis was dramatically down-regulated by TCPP and TDCPP treatments. These results imply that the inhibition effect of TCPP and TDCPP on progesterone production might be related to mitochondrial damage and down-regulated steroidogenic genes.

Deep learning to diagnose Hashimoto's thyroiditis from sonographic images.

Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is the main cause of hypothyroidism. We develop a deep learning model called HTNet for diagnosis of HT by training on 106,513 thyroid ultrasound images from 17,934 patients and test its performance on 5051 patients from 2 datasets of static images and 1 dataset of video data. HTNet achieves an area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of 0.905 (95% CI: 0.894 to 0.915), 0.888 (0.836-0.939) and 0.895 (0.862-0.927). HTNet exceeds radiologists' performance on accuracy (83.2% versus 79.8%; binomial test, p < 0.001) and sensitivity (82.6% versus 68.1%; p < 0.001). By integrating serologic markers with imaging data, the performance of HTNet was significantly and marginally improved on the video (AUC, 0.949 versus 0.888; DeLong's test, p = 0.004) and static-image (AUC, 0.914 versus 0.901; p = 0.08) testing sets, respectively. HTNet may be helpful as a tool for the management of HT.

Prognostic Implications of an Autophagy-related Gene Signature in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is difficult to diagnose and resistant to therapy and has a poor prognosis. Autophagy plays a vital role in PDAC development and progression. This study aimed to establish an autophagy-related gene (ARG) signature to predict the prognosis of patients with PDAC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression profiles of PDAC and healthy pancreatic tissues were obtained from The Cancer Genome of Atlas (TCGA) and GTEx (Genotype-Tissue Expression) databases, respectively. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed on differentially expressed ARGs to identify the optimal prognosis-related genes. RESULTS: A total of 73 ARGs demonstrated significant differences in expression levels between PDAC and healthy pancreatic tissues. Several pathways that play crucial roles in biological processes were identified via enrichment analyses. Furthermore, an ARG signature was established based on overall survival-related ARGs (CASP4, BAK1, PIK3R4, CASP8, BIRC5, RPTOR, and CAPN1) using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression. Cox regression analysis confirmed that the 7-gene signature was an independent prognostic factor for patients with PDAC (P<0.001). In addition, the GSE21501 and GSE28735 datasets were used to validate the predictive value of the prognostic model for PDAC. We also constructed a clinical nomogram with a concordance index of 0.712 to predict the overall survival of patients by integrating clinical characteristics and the ARG signature. Calibration curves substantiated fine concordance between nomogram prediction and actual observation. CONCLUSION: We constructed a new ARG-related prognostic model, which can be a prognostic biomarker and offers insights into identifying potential therapeutic targets for PDAC.

Improved diagnosis of thyroid cancer aided with deep learning applied to sonographic text reports: a retrospective, multi-cohort, diagnostic study.

OBJECTIVE: Large volume radiological text data have been accumulated since the incorporation of electronic health record (EHR) systems in clinical practice. We aimed to determine whether deep natural language processing algorithms could aid radiologists in improving thyroid cancer diagnosis. METHODS: Sonographic EHR data were obtained from the EHR database. Pathological reports were used as the gold standard for diagnosing thyroid cancer. We developed thyroid cancer diagnosis based on natural language processing (THCaDxNLP) to interpret unstructured sonographic text reports for thyroid cancer diagnosis. We used the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) as the primary metric to measure the performance of the THCaDxNLP. We compared the performance of thyroid ultrasound radiologists aided with THCaDxNLP vs. those without THCaDxNLP using 5 independent test sets. RESULTS: We obtained a total number of 788,129 sonographic radiological reports. The number of thyroid sonographic data points was 132,277, 18,400 of which were thyroid cancer patients. Among the 5 test sets, the numbers of patients per set were 439, 186, 82, 343, and 171. THCaDxNLP achieved high performance in identifying thyroid cancer patients (the AUROC ranged from 0.857-0.932). Thyroid ultrasound radiologists aided with THCaDxNLP achieved significantly higher performances than those without THCaDxNLP in terms of accuracy (93.8% vs. 87.2%; one-sided t-test, adjusted P = 0.003), precision (92.5% vs. 86.0%; P = 0.018), and F1 metric (94.2% vs. 86.4%; P = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: THCaDxNLP achieved a high AUROC for the identification of thyroid cancer, and improved the accuracy, sensitivity, and precision of thyroid ultrasound radiologists. This warrants further investigation of THCaDxNLP in prospective clinical trials.

Cytotoxic comparison of macrolide antibiotics and their chlorinated disinfection byproduct mixtures.

Erythromycin (ERY), azithromycin (AZI) and telithromycin (TEL) are widely-used macrolide antibiotics that are frequently detected in various water environments, including resource water and drinking water. In the performed chlorination disinfection process, at least 10, 20 and 200 new disinfection byproducts of ERY, AZI and TEL, respectively, were observed (the mixtures of the disinfection byproducts of ERY, AZI and TEL were named ERY-M, AZI-M and TEL-M, respectively). There is limited information available regarding their comparative toxicities, and their potential health risks are still unknown. In this study, the Jurkat cell line was used to compare the toxicities of the disinfection byproduct mixtures and their precursor compounds. The cell viability results indicated that the toxicity of ERY-M may not be enhanced after disinfection by chlorination. In contrast, at the same concentrations, AZI-M and TEL-M induced more significant inhibitory effects on cell viability than their parent compounds. Additionally, the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and cell cytokine release (including interleukin-2, interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor-α) analyses of AZI-M and TEL-M further verified these results. Our findings demonstrate that the cytotoxicity of AZI and TEL was enhanced during the chlorination disinfection process. This investigation will provide substantial new details related to the toxicity of the mixed disinfection byproducts (DBPs) of ERY, AZI and TEL generated in the chlorination disinfection process.

Mechanism of bisphenol AF-induced progesterone inhibition in human chorionic gonadotrophin-stimulated mouse Leydig tumor cell line (mLTC-1) cells.

Bisphenol AF (BPAF) has been shown to inhibit testicular steroidogenesis in male rats. However, the precise mechanisms related to the toxic effects of BPAF on reproduction remain poorly understood. In the present study, a mouse Leydig tumor cell line (mLTC-1) was used as a model to investigate the mechanism of steroidogenic inhibition and to identify the molecular target of BPAF. Levels of progesterone and the concentration of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in cells exposed to BPAF were detected, and expression of key genes and proteins in steroid biosynthesis was assessed. The results showed that BPAF exposure decreased human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG)-stimulated progesterone production in a dose-dependent manner. The 24-h IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) value for BPAF regarding progesterone production was 70.2 µM. A dramatic decrease in cellular cAMP concentration was also observed. Furthermore, BPAF exposure inhibited expression of genes and proteins involved in cholesterol transport and progesterone biosynthesis. Conversely, the protein levels of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) were not altered, and those of progesterone were still decreased upon 22R-hydroxycholesterol treatment of cells exposed to higher doses of BPAF. Together, these data indicate that BPAF exposure inhibits progesterone secretion in hCG-stimulated mLTC-1 cells by reducing expression of scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-B1) and cytochrome P450 (P450scc) due to the adverse effects of cAMP. However, StAR might not be the molecular target in this process.

Gestational and lactational exposure to bisphenol AF in maternal rats increases testosterone levels in 23-day-old male offspring.

During prenatal and postnatal development, exposure to environmental chemicals with estrogenic activity, such as bisphenol AF (BPAF), may result in reproductive disorders. Currently, the mechanisms behind such disorders in male offspring induced by gestational and lactational exposure to BPAF remain poorly understood. Here, female rats from gestational day (GD) 3-19 were exposed to 100 mg BPAF/kg/day by oral gavage. On the day of birth (postnatal day (PD) 0), cross-fostering took place between treated and control litters, and cross-fostered mother rats were given BPAF 100 mg/kg/day during the postnatal period (PD 3 to PD 19). HPLC-MS/MS analysis showed that BPAF was transferred via cord blood and lactation, finally bio-accumulating in the offspring testes. Pups exposed to BPAF both prenatally and postnatally showed a significant increase in testis testosterone levels compared with that of the control, while all pups exposed to BPAF showed a significant decrease in testis inhibin B (INHB) levels. Compared with the control, RNA-seq revealed that 279 genes were significantly differentially expressed in the testes of pups exposed to BPAF both prenatally and postnatally, including genes involved in cell differentiation and meiosis. These results indicate that gestational and lactational exposure to BPAF in the mother can impair reproductive function in male offspring.

Uptake, depuration and bioconcentration of bisphenol AF (BPAF) in whole-body and tissues of zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Bisphenol AF (BPAF) is an analog of Bisphenol A (BPA) and is widely used as a raw material in the plastics industry. However, an understanding of the potential risks posed by BPAF in the aquatic environment is lacking. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) is a measure used to assess the secondary poisoning potential as well as risks to human health. In this work we measured the accumulation and elimination of BPAF in the whole-body and in liver, muscle and gonad tissues of zebrafish. BPAF uptake was relatively rapid with equilibrium concentrations reached after 24-72h of exposure. We observed gender differences both in whole-body and in tissue accumulation. Muscle was the primary BPAF storage tissue during the uptake phase in this study. In the elimination phase, BPAF concentrations declined rapidly during depuration, especially during the initial 2h, and the rate of elimination in males was faster than females from the whole-body and from tissues. The appearance of BPAF glucuronide (BPAF-G) at the start of the uptake phase indicated the rapid biotransformation of BPAF to BPAF-G in vivo. The high lipid content of female gonad could act to delay the diffusion of the xenobiotic within the body in a contaminated environment, but it also acts to delay xenobiotic elimination from the body.

Endocrine Disrupting Effects of Triclosan on the Placenta in Pregnant Rats.

Triclosan (TCS) is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent that is frequently used in pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Reports have shown that TCS is a potential endocrine disruptor; however, the potential effects of TCS on placental endocrine function are unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the endocrine disrupting effects of TCS on the placenta in pregnant rats. Pregnant rats from gestational day (GD) 6 to GD 20 were treated with 0, 30, 100, 300 and 600 mg/kg/d TCS followed by analysis of various biochemical parameters. Of the seven tissues examined, the greatest bioaccumulation of TCS was observed in the placenta. Reduction of gravid uterine weight and the occurrence of abortion were observed in the 600 mg/kg/d TCS-exposed group. Moreover, hormone detection demonstrated that the serum levels of progesterone (P), estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and prolactin (PRL) were decreased in groups exposed to higher doses of TCS. Real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (Q-RT-PCR) analysis revealed a significant increase in mRNA levels for placental steroid metabolism enzymes, including UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1), estrogen sulfotransferase 1E1 (SULT1E1), steroid 5α-reductase 1 (SRD5A1) and steroid 5α-reductase 2 (SRD5A2). Furthermore, the transcriptional expression levels of progesterone receptor (PR), estrogen receptor (ERα) and androgen receptor (AR) were up-regulated. Taken together, these data demonstrated that the placenta was a target tissue of TCS and that TCS induced inhibition of circulating steroid hormone production might be related to the altered expression of hormone metabolism enzyme genes in the placenta. This hormone disruption might subsequently affect fetal development and growth.

Effects of bisphenol analogues on steroidogenic gene expression and hormone synthesis in H295R cells.

The use of Bisphenol A (BPA) has been regulated in many countries because of its potential adverse effects on human health. As a result of the restriction, structural anologues such as bisphenol S (BPS) and bisphenol F (BPF) have already been used for industrial applications as alternatives to BPA. Bisphenol AF (BPAF) is mainly used as a crosslinker in the synthesis of specialty fluoroelastomers. These compounds have been detected in various environmental matrices and human samples. Previous studies have shown that these compounds have potential endocrine disrupting effects on wildlife and mammals in general. However, the effects on adrenocortical function and the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. In the present study, the H295R cell line was used as a model to compare the cell toxicity and to investigate the potential endocrine disrupting action of four BPs (including BPA, BPS, BPF, and BPAF). The half lethal concentration (LC50) values at 72 h exposure indicated that the rank order of toxicities of the chemicals was BPAF > BPA > BPS > BPF. The hormone results demonstrated that BPA analogues, such as BPF, BPS and BPAF were capable of altering steroidogenesis in H295R cells. BPA and BPS exhibited inhibition of hormone production, BPF predominantly led to increased progesterone and 17ß-estradiol levels and BPAF showed induction of progesterone and reduction of testosterone. Inhibition effects of BPA and BPAF on hormone production were probably mediated by down-regulation of steroidogenic genes in H295R cells. However, the mechanisms of the endocrine interrupting action of BPF and BPS are still unclear, which may have additional mechanisms that have not been detected with BPA.

Long-term effects of bisphenol AF (BPAF) on hormonal balance and genes of hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad axis and liver of zebrafish (Danio rerio), and the impact on offspring.

Bisphenol AF (BPAF) is one of the analogues of bisphenol A (BPA) and is widely used as a raw material in the plastics industry. The potential toxicity to fish from exposure to BPAF in the aquatic environment is largely unknown. In this study, zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to BPAF at 5, 25 and 125 µg L(-1), from 4 hour-post-fertilization (hpf) to 120 day-post-fertilization (dpf), representing the period from embryo to adult. The levels of plasma hormones were measured and the expression of selected representative genes along the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad (HPG) axis and liver were examined. The concentration of 17ß-estradiol (E2) was significantly increased in male and female fish and a significant decrease of testosterone (T) was observed in male fish. The mRNA expression of genes along the HPG axis and in liver tissues in F0 generation fish demonstrated that the steroid hormonal balances of zebrafish were modulated through the alteration of steroidgenesis. The significant decrease of egg fertilization among offspring indicates the possibility of sperm deterioration of parent following exposure to BPAF. The higher occurrence of malformation and lower survival rate in the offspring from the exposure group suggested a possibility of maternal transfer of BPAF, which could be responsible for the increased prevalence of adverse health signs in the offspring. The hatching delay in 5 µg L(-1) BPAF indicated that parental exposure to environmentally relevant concentration of BPAF would result in delayed hatching of the offspring. A potential consequence of adverse effects in the offspring by BPAF deserves further investigation.

Hormesis effects of silver nanoparticles at non-cytotoxic doses to human hepatoma cells.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have attracted considerable attentions due to their unique properties and diverse applications. Although it has been reported that AgNPs have acute toxic effects on a variety of cultured mammalian cells and animal models, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the associated risk of AgNPs to human health at non-cytotoxic doses. In this paper, HepG2 cells were exposed to 10 nm and 100 nm AgNPs under non-cytotoxic conditions, and cell viability was assessed. At low doses, AgNPs displayed "hormesis" effects by accelerating cell proliferation. Further studies indicated that the activation states of MAPKs were differentially regulated in this process. Specifically, by increasing the expression of downstream genes, p38 MAPK played a central role in non-cytotoxic AgNP-induced hormesis. Moreover, the treatment of HepG2 cells with silver ions (Ag+) at the same dose levels induced distinct biological effects, suggesting that different intrinsic properties exist for AgNPs and Ag+.

Biotransformation of bisphenol AF to its major glucuronide metabolite reduces estrogenic activity.

Bisphenol AF (BPAF), an endocrine disrupting chemical, can induce estrogenic activity through binding to estrogen receptor (ER). However, the metabolism of BPAF in vivo and the estrogenic activity of its metabolites remain unknown. In the present study, we identified four metabolites including BPAF diglucuronide, BPAF glucuronide (BPAF-G), BPAF glucuronide dehydrated and BPAF sulfate in the urine of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. BPAF-G was further characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). After treatment with a single dose of BPAF, BPAF was metabolized rapidly to BPAF-G, as detected in the plasma of SD rats. Biotransformation of BPAF to BPAF-G was confirmed with human liver microsomes (HLM), and Vmax of glucuronidation for HLM was 11.6 nmol/min/mg. We also found that BPAF glucuronidation could be mediated through several human recombinant UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) including UGT1A1, UGT1A3, UGT1A8, UGT1A9, UGT2B4, UGT2B7, UGT2B15 and UGT2B17, among which UGT2B7 showed the highest efficiency of glucuronidation. To explain the biological function of BPAF biotransformation, the estrogenic activities of BPAF and BPAF-G were evaluated in ER-positive breast cancer T47D and MCF7 cells. BPAF significantly stimulates ER-regulated gene expression and cell proliferation at the dose of 100 nM and 1 µM in breast cancer cells. However, BPAF-G did not show any induction of estrogenic activity at the same dosages, implying that formation of BPAF-G is a potential host defense mechanism against BPAF. Based on our study, biotransformation of BPAF to BPAF-G can eliminate BPAF-induced estrogenic activity, which is therefore considered as reducing the potential threat to human beings.

Microarray analysis of gene expression in mouse (strain 129) embryonic stem cells after typical synthetic musk exposure.

Synthetic musks are widely used in personal-care products and can readily accumulate in the adipose tissue, breast milk, and blood of humans. In this study, the Affymetrix Mouse Genome GeneChip was used to identify alterations in gene expression of embryonic stem cells from the 129 strain of the laboratory mouse after treatment with the synthetic musk tonalide (AHTN). Among the 45,037 transcripts in the microarray, 2,879 genes were differentially expressed. According to the microarray analysis, the potential influence of AHTN on the development to embryo should be of concern, and the toxicological effects of it and related musk compounds should be studied further.

Bisphenol AF may cause testosterone reduction by directly affecting testis function in adult male rats.

Although in vitro studies have indicated that Bisphenol AF (BPAF) might be a more dangerous endocrine disruptor than Bisphenol A (BPA), no information on reproductive toxicity in animals is available. In this study, the effects of BPAF exposure on the testis and the related mechanisms of toxicity were investigated. Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats were exposed to BPAF (0, 2, 10, 50 and 200 mg/kg/d) for 14 days. Total cholesterol levels in serum were decreased in rats given a dose of 50 and 200 mg/kg/d. BPAF concentration in the testes increased with increasing doses of BPAF. Reduced serum testosterone and increased luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels were observed in rats in the higher dose groups. Furthermore, BPAF exposure resulted in a dramatic decline in genes and protein involved in cholesterol biosynthesis, transport and steroid biosynthesis. Similarly, the testicular mRNA levels of inhibin B, estrogen receptor (ERα) and luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR) also decreased in rats given a dosage of 200 mg/kg/d BPAF. Together, these data demonstrate that BPAF-induced inhibition of testosterone production primarily resulted from the alteration of genes and proteins in the testosterone biosynthesis pathway.