Analysis of real-time mixture cytotoxicity data following repeated exposure using BK/TD models.

Cosmetic products generally consist of multiple ingredients. Thus, cosmetic risk assessment has to deal with mixture toxicity on a long-term scale which means it has to be assessed in the context of repeated exposure. Given that animal testing has been banned for cosmetics risk assessment, in vitro assays allowing long-term repeated exposure and adapted for in vitro - in vivo extrapolation need to be developed. However, most in vitro tests only assess short-term effects and consider static endpoints which hinder extrapolation to realistic human exposure scenarios where concentration in target organs is varies over time. Thanks to impedance metrics, real-time cell viability monitoring for repeated exposure has become possible. We recently constructed biokinetic/toxicodynamic models (BK/TD) to analyze such data (Teng et al., 2015) for three hepatotoxic cosmetic ingredients: coumarin, isoeugenol and benzophenone-2. In the present study, we aim to apply these models to analyze the dynamics of mixture impedance data using the concepts of concentration addition and independent action. Metabolic interactions between the mixture components were investigated, characterized and implemented in the models, as they impacted the actual cellular exposure. Indeed, cellular metabolism following mixture exposure induced a quick disappearance of the compounds from the exposure system. We showed that isoeugenol substantially decreased the metabolism of benzophenone-2, reducing the disappearance of this compound and enhancing its in vitro toxicity. Apart from this metabolic interaction, no mixtures showed any interaction, and all binary mixtures were successfully modeled by at least one model based on exposure to the individual compounds.

BK/TD models for analyzing in vitro impedance data on cytotoxicity.

The ban of animal testing has enhanced the development of new in vitro technologies for cosmetics safety assessment. Impedance metrics is one such technology which enables monitoring of cell viability in real time. However, analyzing real time data requires moving from static to dynamic toxicity assessment. In the present study, we built mechanistic biokinetic/toxicodynamic (BK/TD) models to analyze the time course of cell viability in cytotoxicity assay using impedance. These models account for the fate of the tested compounds during the assay. BK/TD models were applied to analyze HepaRG cell viability, after single (48 h) and repeated (4 weeks) exposures to three hepatotoxic compounds (coumarin, isoeugenol and benzophenone-2). The BK/TD models properly fit the data used for their calibration that was obtained for single or repeated exposure. Only for one out of the three compounds, the models calibrated with a single exposure were able to predict repeated exposure data. We therefore recommend the use of long-term exposure in vitro data in order to adequately account for chronic hepatotoxic effects. The models we propose here are capable of being coupled with human biokinetic models in order to relate dose exposure and human hepatotoxicity.

3'-End modification of the adenoviral VA1 gene affects its expression in human cells: consequences for the design of chimeric VA1 RNA ribozymes.

Polymerase III (pol III)-dependent genes, like the adenoviral VA1 gene, are of particular interest for expressing small therapeutic RNAs into cells. A new VA1 RNA carrier molecule was generated through the deletion of the VA1 RNA central domain to give rise to the VAdeltaIV RNA vector that was devoid of undesirable physiologic activity (i.e., inhibition of the interferon-induced protein kinase, PKR). This vector was used to express in human cells hammerhead ribozymes targeted against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Eight anti-HIV ribozymes were inserted at the 3'-end of this vector immediately before the four T-residues that serve as a transcription termination signal. Although the constructs were active in vitro, they failed to inhibit HIV replication in transient assays. Analysis of the intracellular ribozyme expression in cells revealed several anomalies. First, using mutant derivatives, we showed that the presence of two or three consecutive T-residues in the ribozyme portion was sufficient to promote the release of anomalous short transcripts. Second, when the ribozyme did not contain T-rich sequence, full-length transcripts were produced, but these transcripts were very unstable and were retained in the cell nucleus. In contrast, insertion of the ribozyme in place of the central domain of VA1 RNA led to production of full-length transcripts that were stable and located in the cytoplasm but that were not found to be active in vitro. Taken together, these results have important consequences for the future design of active intracellular ribozymes based on the use of pol III-transcribed genes.

T cells chronically infected with HIV do not contain sufficient Nef to promote CD4 downmodulation in the absence of envelope-mediated effects.

Among HIV viral proteins, envelope glycoproteins and Nef have been both suggested to participate in CD4 downregulation during the course of HIV infection. In a previous study, we provided evidence that a mutant form of CD4 that does not bind gp120 was never downregulated in chronically HIV-1- and HIV-2-infected CEM cells. To further investigate the relative effects of Nef or glycoproteins in CD4 downregulation, recombinant vaccinia virus (VV) vectors were used to express high levels of HIV-1 viral proteins in cells expressing both wild-type and mutant CD4. It was demonstrated that during HIV infection, overexpression of Nef, achieved through the VV expression system, was necessary to induce CD4 downregulation in the mutant CD4-expressing cell model. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that Nef-mediated CD4 downregulation depends on the cellular levels of Nef expression. We concluded that during the late stage of viral replication, CD4 downregulation is mostly due to gp120 and not to Nef because of a low level of Nef expression.

Rise in cytosolic Ca2+ abolishes in preadipose cells the expression of lipoprotein lipase stimulated by growth hormone.

Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is known to be an early marker of adipose cell differentiation. Growth hormone (GH) stimulates in preadipose Ob1771 cells the expression of LPL gene and this effect is mediated at least in part by c-fos protooncogene, the expression of which is transiently activated by a protein kinase C-dependent pathway (Barcellini-Couget et al., Endocrinology, 1993, 132: 55-60). Since GH stimulates the formation of diacylglycerol from phosphatidylcholine independently of Ca2+ mobilization, the role of Ca2+ was studied in regard to LPL gene expression stimulated by GH. The results obtained in the presence of Ca2+ ionophores show that a rise in intracellular free Ca2+ abolishes this expression but has no effect on the expression of various adipose-related genes, including the transient expression of c-fos protooncogene. Therefore, the inability of preadipose cells to mobilize Ca2+ in response to GH, at an early stage of the differentiation process, appears as a prerequisite for the maximal expression of LPL.

Regulation of c-fos proto-oncogene expression by growth hormone: protein synthesis is not required for down-regulation.

Growth hormone (GH) has been previously shown in Ob1771 adipose cells to transiently stimulate the expression of the c-fos gene by a protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent pathway. This regulation takes place at a transcriptional level. In the presence of cycloheximide (CHX), stimulation by PKC activators or by serum leads to a "superinduction" of the c-fos gene. In contrast, upon GH stimulation in the presence of CHX, no superinduction takes place and neither prolonged transcription nor mRNA stabilization are observed.

The regulation by growth hormone of lipoprotein lipase gene expression is mediated by c-fos protooncogene.

GH has been previously shown in Ob1771 adipose cells to activate transiently the expression of c-fos gene by a protein kinase-C-dependent pathway and to modulate, at last in part by a protein kinase-C-dependent pathway, the expression of the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene. In Ob1771 cells exposed to GH, under conditions where protein synthesis is inhibited by cycloheximide, the modulation of LPL gene expression is prevented, suggesting that synthesis of trans-acting factor(s) is required to modulate LPL gene expression. The present results indicate the involvement of c-Fos protein in this modulation; this involvement is supported by various lines of evidence: 1) upon GH stimulation, the increase in c-fos mRNA content is followed by the emergence of c-Fos protein within the nucleus, and this emergence precedes the increase in LPL mRNA content; 2) in GH-treated Ob1771 cells, exposure to antisense sof oligonucleotides abolishes the synthesis of c-Fos protein; and 3) at the same time, the increase in LPL mRNA content and LPL activity does not occur, whereas sense fos oligonucleotides show no effect. It is concluded that c-Fos protein plays an intermediary role in the modulation of LPL gene expression by GH.

The adipocyte: relationships between proliferation and adipose cell differentiation.

The differentiation of adipose precursor cells can be divided into early and late events. Growth arrest at the G1/S boundary triggers the activation of early genes, i.e., pOb24 and lipoprotein lipase; the expression of both genes is primarily regulated at a transcriptional level. The expression of late markers, which lead to terminal differentiation and accumulation of neutral lipids, takes place after a limited number of mitoses of early-marker-expressing cells. Only terminal differentiation requires the presence of growth hormone and triiodothyronine as obligatory hormones and insulin as a modulating hormone, and results in the formation of triacylglycerol-filled, non-dividing cells. It appears that terminal differentiation involves the cyclic AMP pathway, the diacylglycerol pathway, and a third pathway triggered by insulinlike growth factor-I and insulin. It is thus proposed that a combination of mitogenic-adipogenic signals is required to trigger terminal differentiation of preadipose cells.