Classification or non-classification of substances with positive tumor findings in animal studies: Guidance by the German MAK commission.

One of the important tasks of the German Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area (known as the MAK Commission) is in the evaluation of a potential for carcinogenicity of hazardous substances at the workplace. Often, this evaluation is critically based on data on carcinogenic responses seen in animal studies and, if positive tumor responses have been observed, this will mostly lead to a classification of the substance under investigation into one of the classes for carcinogens. However, there are cases where it can be demonstrated with a very high degree of confidence that the tumor findings in the experimental animals are not relevant for humans at the workplace and, therefore, the MAK Commission will not classify the respective substance into one of the classes for carcinogens. This paper will summarize the general criteria used by the MAK Commission for the categorization into "carcinogen" and "non-carcinogen" and compare this procedure with those used by other national and international organizations.

Human relevance of follicular thyroid tumors in rodents caused by non-genotoxic substances.

Chronic stimulation of the thyroid gland of rodents by TSH leads to thyroid follicular hyperplasia and subsequently to thyroid follicular adenomas and carcinomas. However, the interpretations of rodent thyroid tumors are contradictory. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that findings with drugs that lead to increased levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in rats are not relevant to humans, whereas the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) concluded that chemicals that produce rodent thyroid tumors may pose a carcinogenic hazard for humans although the thyroid of rodents appears to be more sensitive to a carcinogenic stimulus than that of humans. Meanwhile, based on the CLP Criteria of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), rodent thyroid tumors caused by the induction of uridine-diphosphate-glucuronosyl transferases (UDGT) were assessed as not relevant to humans. To clarify these discrepant positions, the function and regulation of the thyroid gland are described and the types of thyroid tumors and the causes of their development in humans and animals are examined. Based on these data and the evidence that so far, except radiation, no chemical is known to increase the incidence of thyroid tumors in humans, it is concluded that rodent thyroid tumors resulting from continuous stimulation of the thyroid gland by increased TSH levels are not relevant to humans. Consequently, compounds that induce such tumors do not warrant classification as carcinogenic.

The common structural architecture of Shigella flexneri and Salmonella typhimurium type three secretion needles.

The Type Three Secretion System (T3SS), or injectisome, is a macromolecular infection machinery present in many pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria. It consists of a basal body, anchored in both bacterial membranes, and a hollow needle through which effector proteins are delivered into the target host cell. Two different architectures of the T3SS needle have been previously proposed. First, an atomic model of the Salmonella typhimurium needle was generated from solid-state NMR data. The needle subunit protein, PrgI, comprises a rigid-extended N-terminal segment and a helix-loop-helix motif with the N-terminus located on the outside face of the needle. Second, a model of the Shigella flexneri needle was generated from a high-resolution 7.7-Å cryo-electron microscopy density map. The subunit protein, MxiH, contains an N-terminal α-helix, a loop, another α-helix, a 14-residue-long ß-hairpin (Q51-Q64) and a C-terminal α-helix, with the N-terminus facing inward to the lumen of the needle. In the current study, we carried out solid-state NMR measurements of wild-type Shigella flexneri needles polymerized in vitro and identified the following secondary structure elements for MxiH: a rigid-extended N-terminal segment (S2-T11), an α-helix (L12-A38), a loop (E39-P44) and a C-terminal α-helix (Q45-R83). Using immunogold labeling in vitro and in vivo on functional needles, we located the N-terminus of MxiH subunits on the exterior of the assembly, consistent with evolutionary sequence conservation patterns and mutagenesis data. We generated a homology model of Shigella flexneri needles compatible with both experimental data: the MxiH solid-state NMR chemical shifts and the state-of-the-art cryoEM density map. These results corroborate the solid-state NMR structure previously solved for Salmonella typhimurium PrgI needles and establish that Shigella flexneri and Salmonella typhimurium subunit proteins adopt a conserved structure and orientation in their assembled state. Our study reveals a common structural architecture of T3SS needles, essential to understand T3SS-mediated infection and develop treatments.

Propionibacterium acnes host cell tropism contributes to vimentin-mediated invasion and induction of inflammation.

The contribution of the human microbiota to health and disease is poorly understood. Propionibacterium acnes is a prominent member of the skin microbiota, but is also associated with acne vulgaris. This bacterium has gained recent attention as a potential opportunistic pathogen at non-skin infection sites due to its association with chronic pathologies and its isolation from diseased prostates. We performed comparative global-transcriptional analyses for P. acnes infection of keratinocytes and prostate cells. P. acnes induced an acute, transient transcriptional inflammatory response in keratinocytes, whereas this response was delayed and sustained in prostate cells. We found that P. acnes invaded prostate epithelial cells, but not keratinocytes, and was detectable intracellularly 7 days post infection. Further characterization of the host cell response to infection revealed that vimentin was a key determinant for P. acnes invasion in prostate cells. siRNA-mediated knock-down of vimentin in prostate cellsattenuated bacterial invasion and the inflammatory response to infection. We conclude that host cell tropism, which may depend on the host protein vimentin, is relevant for P. acnes invasion and in part determines its sustained inflammatory capacity and persistence of infection.

Impairment of neutrophil extracellular trap degradation is associated with lupus nephritis.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease in which patients develop autoantibodies to DNA, histones, and often to neutrophil proteins. These form immune complexes that are pathogenic and may cause lupus nephritis. In SLE patients, infections can initiate flares and are a major cause of mortality. Neutrophils respond to infections and release extracellular traps (NETs), which are antimicrobial and are made of DNA, histones, and neutrophil proteins. The timely removal of NETs may be crucial for tissue homeostasis to avoid presentation of self-antigens. We tested the hypothesis that SLE patients cannot clear NETs, contributing to the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis. Here we show that serum endonuclease DNase1 is essential for disassembly of NETs. Interestingly, a subset of SLE patients' sera degraded NETs poorly. Two mechanisms caused this impaired NET degradation: (i) the presence of DNase1 inhibitors or (ii) anti-NET antibodies prevented DNase1 access to NETs. Impairment of DNase1 function and failure to dismantle NETs correlated with kidney involvement. Hence, identification of SLE patients who cannot dismantle NETs might be a useful indicator of renal involvement. Moreover, NETs might represent a therapeutic target in SLE.

Prevalence of Propionibacterium acnes in diseased prostates and its inflammatory and transforming activity on prostate epithelial cells.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of male cancer deaths in the Western world. Mounting evidence has revealed that chronic inflammation can be an important initiating factor of PCa. Recent work has detected the anaerobic Gram-positive bacterium Propionibacterium acnes in cancerous prostates, but with wide-ranging detection rates. Here, using in situ immunofluorescence (ISIF), P. acnes was found in 58 out of 71 (81.7%) tested cancerous prostate tissue samples, but was absent from healthy prostate tissues (20 samples) and other cancerous tissue biopsies (59 mamma carcinoma samples). Live P. acnes bacteria were isolated from cancerous prostates and cocultured with the prostate epithelial cell line RWPE1. Microarray analysis showed that the host cell responded to P. acnes with a strong multifaceted inflammatory response. Active secretion of cytokines and chemokines, such as IL-6 and IL-8, from infected cells was confirmed. The host cell response was likely mediated by the transcriptional factors NF-κB and STAT3, which were both activated upon P. acnes infection. The P. acnes-induced host cell response also included the activation of the COX2-prostaglandin, and the plasminogen-matrix metalloproteinase pathways. Long-term exposure to P. acnes altered cell proliferation, and enabled anchorage-independent growth of infected epithelial cells, thus initiating cellular transformation. Our results suggest that P. acnes infection could be a contributing factor to the initiation or progression of PCa.

Enzyme induction in cryopreserved human hepatocyte cultures.

Freshly isolated human hepatocytes are considered as the gold standard for in vitro testing of drug candidates. Meanwhile also cryopreserved human hepatocyte suspensions are available. However, a drawback of these cells is the incalculability of attachment to the culture dish. Therefore, we established a technique freezing hepatocytes cultured on a collagen gel. After thawing damaged cells were removed to a certain extent by gentle washing with culture medium prior to adding an upper gel layer. The morphology of the resulting hepatocyte cultures could not be distinguished from that of non-frozen cells. However, basal activities of cytochrome P450 isoforms decreased in cryopreserved compared to non-frozen hepatocytes, as evidenced by analysis of testosterone hydroxylation (OHT) in positions 6beta, 16alpha, 2beta and 6alpha. Nevertheless, enzyme induction factors caused by 24 h incubation with 50 microM rifampicin were similar in cryopreserved and non-frozen hepatocytes. In cryopreserved hepatocytes rifampicin caused an increase in mean values of 6beta-OHT formation from 57.2 to 157.7 pmol/well/min (2.8-fold), compared to an increase from 115.8 to 269.1 pmol/well/min (2.3-fold) in non-frozen cells. Similarly, 16alpha- and 2beta-OHT showed induction factors of 2.4- and 2.3-fold in cryopreserved compared to 1.6- and 2.4-fold in non-frozen hepatocytes, respectively. In conclusion, human hepatocytes cryopreserved on collagen gels show a clear induction of CYP3A4 by rifampicin, although the basal activities are reduced compared to non-frozen cells.

Neutrophil extracellular traps: how to generate and visualize them.

Neutrophil granulocytes are the most abundant group of leukocytes in the peripheral blood. As professional phagocytes, they engulf bacteria and kill them intracellularly when their antimicrobial granules fuse with the phagosome. We found that neutrophils have an additional way of killing microorganisms: upon activation, they release granule proteins and chromatin that together form extracellular fibers that bind pathogens. These novel structures, or Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs), degrade virulence factors and kill bacteria, fungi and parasites. The structural backbone of NETs is DNA, and they are quickly degraded in the presence of DNases. Thus, bacteria expressing DNases are more virulent. Using correlative microscopy combining TEM, SEM, immunofluorescence and live cell imaging techniques, we could show that upon stimulation, the nuclei of neutrophils lose their shape and the eu- and heterochromatin homogenize. Later, the nuclear envelope and the granule membranes disintegrate allowing the mixing of NET components. Finally, the NETs are released as the cell membrane breaks. This cell death program (NETosis) is distinct from apoptosis and necrosis and depends on the generation of Reactive Oxygen Species by NADPH oxidase. Neutrophil extracellular traps are abundant at sites of acute inflammation. NETs appear to be a form of innate immune response that bind microorganisms, prevent them from spreading, and ensure a high local concentration of antimicrobial agents to degrade virulence factors and kill pathogens thus allowing neutrophils to fulfill their antimicrobial function even beyond their life span. There is increasing evidence, however, that NETs are also involved in diseases that range from auto-immune syndromes to infertility. We describe methods to isolate Neutrophil Granulocytes from peripheral human blood and stimulate them to form NETs. Also we include protocols to visualize the NETs in light and electron microscopy.

Protein refolding is required for assembly of the type three secretion needle.

Pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria use a type three secretion system (TTSS) to deliver virulence factors into host cells. Although the order in which proteins incorporate into the growing TTSS is well described, the underlying assembly mechanisms are still unclear. Here we show that the TTSS needle protomer refolds spontaneously to extend the needle from the distal end. We developed a functional mutant of the needle protomer from Shigella flexneri and Salmonella typhimurium to study its assembly in vitro. We show that the protomer partially refolds from alpha-helix into beta-strand conformation to form the TTSS needle. Reconstitution experiments show that needle growth does not require ATP. Thus, like the structurally related flagellar systems, the needle elongates by subunit polymerization at the distal end but requires protomer refolding. Our studies provide a starting point to understand the molecular assembly mechanisms and the structure of the TTSS at atomic level.

Mouse neutrophil extracellular traps in microbial infections.

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) play an important role in innate immunity to microbial infections. NETs have been described in several species, but the molecular details of NET formation and their role in infection has not been addressed, partly because we lack optimal experimental models. Here we describe tools to investigate NET formation in neutrophils isolated from mice. Upon in vitro stimulation of wild-type mouse neutrophils with PMA, we analyzed 3 important steps in the process of NET formation: reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, NET cell death and NET release. As expected, neutrophils from NADPH oxidase-deficient mice failed to produce ROS and did not die nor release NETs upon stimulation. We found that neutrophils from several mouse strains produced NETs with different efficiency and that NET formation correlated with the amount of ROS produced. Activation with Candida albicans also resulted in ROS production and NET cell death. The hyphal form of this fungus induced NETs more effectively than the yeast form. With this work, we provide tools to study in vitro NET assembly in the mouse system.

Expression of opioid receptor subtypes and their ligands in fibrillating human atria.

The delta- and kappa-receptor subtypes are both abundantly expressed in the human heart and participate in age- and stress-related alterations of cardiac function. Opioid receptor agonists mediate cardioprotection in response to ischemic preconditioning via increased intracellular Ca(2) (+) levels, opening mitochondrial K(ATP) channels, and PKC activation. We studied the expression of opioid receptor subtypes kappa and delta, and of their ligand precursors, proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and preproenkephalin A (PENKA), in human atrial tissue of patients in sinus rhythm (SR), or persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). The mitochondrial size was also compared between the two groups. The atrial mRNA expression of opioid peptide precursors and receptors was assessed by competitive and real-time RT-PCR in 16 patients in AF and 16 patients in SR. Mitochondria were analyzed in the atrial tissue by electron microscopy in four patients in AF and four patients in SR. Both PENKA (SR: 100 +/- 33% vs AF: 33 +/- 21%; P < 0.05) and kappa-receptor mRNA amounts (AF: 78 +/- 20% vs SR: 100 +/- 11%; P < 0.05) were both decreased in AF in comparison to SR. In addition, POMC mRNA levels were decreased in AF (SR: 100 +/- 54% vs AF: 37 +/- 26%; P < 0.05), whereas the expression of the corresponding delta-opioid receptor was unchanged (AF: 102 +/- 34% vs 100 +/- 44%). Mitochondrial size was increased during persistent AF. Persistent AF is associated with the down-regulation of the opioid receptor/ligand expression. This suggests a loss of protective capacity in the fibrillating atrial tissue, resulting in an ultrastructural remodeling of atrial myocytes.

New hepatocyte in vitro systems for drug metabolism: metabolic capacity and recommendations for application in basic research and drug development, standard operation procedures.

Primary hepatocytes represent a well-accepted in vitro cell culture system for studies of drug metabolism, enzyme induction, transplantation, viral hepatitis, and hepatocyte regeneration. Recently, a multicentric research program has been initiated to optimize and standardize new in vitro systems with hepatocytes. In this article, we discuss five of these in vitro systems: hepatocytes in suspension, perifusion culture systems, liver slices, co-culture systems of hepatocytes with intestinal bacteria, and 96-well plate bioreactors. From a technical point of view, freshly isolated or cryopreserved hepatocytes in suspension represent a readily available and easy-to-handle in vitro system that can be used to characterize the metabolism of test substances. Hepatocytes in suspension correctly predict interspecies differences in drug metabolism, which is demonstrated with pantoprazole and propafenone. A limitation of the hepatocyte suspensions is the length of the incubation period, which should not exceed 4hr. This incubation period is sufficiently long to determine the metabolic stability and to allow identification of the main metabolites of a test substance, but may be too short to allow generation of some minor, particularly phase II metabolites, that contribute less than 3% to total metabolism. To achieve longer incubation periods, hepatocyte culture systems or bioreactors are used. In this research program, two bioreactor systems have been optimized: the perifusion culture system and 96-well plate bioreactors. The perifusion culture system consists of collagen-coated slides allowing the continuous superfusion of a hepatocyte monolayer with culture medium as well as establishment of a constant atmosphere of 13% oxygen, 82% nitrogen, and 5% CO2. This system is stable for at least 2 weeks and guarantees a remarkable sensitivity to enzyme induction, even if weak inducers are tested. A particular advantage of this systemis that the same bioreactor can be perfused with different concentrations of a test substance in a sequential manner. The 96-well plate bioreactor runs 96 modules in parallel for pharmacokinetic testing under aerobic culture conditions. This system combines the advantages of a three-dimensional culture system in collagen gel, controlled oxygen supply, and constant culture medium conditions, with the possibility of high throughput and automatization. A newly developed co-culture system of hepatocytes with intestinal bacteria offers the possibility to study the metabolic interaction between liver and intestinal microflora. It consists of two chambers separated by a permeable polycarbonate membrane, where hepatocytes are cultured under aerobic and intestinal bacteria in anaerobic conditions. Test substances are added to the aerobic side to allow their initial metabolism by the hepatocytes, followed by the metabolism by intestinal bacteria at the anaerobic side. Precision-cut slices represent an alternative to isolated hepatocytes and have been used fo the investigation of hepatic metabolism, hepatotoxicity, and enzyme induction. A specific advantage of liver slices is the possibility to study toxic effects on hepatocytes that are mediated or modified by nonparenchymal cells (e.g., by cytokine release from Kupffer cells) because the physiological liver microarchitecture is maintained in cultured slices. For all these in vitro systems, a prevalidation has been performed using standard assays for phase I and II enzymes. Representative results with test substances and recommendations for application of these in vitro systems, as well as standard operation procedures are given.