Aging influence on pulmonary and systemic inflammation and neural metabolomics arising from pulmonary multi-walled carbon nanotube exposure in apolipoprotein E-deficient and C57BL/6 female mice.

OBJECTIVE: Environmental exposures exacerbate age-related pathologies, such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Nanoparticulates, and specifically carbon nanomaterials, are a fast-growing contributor to the category of inhalable pollutants, whose risks to health are only now being unraveled. The current study assessed the exacerbating effect of age on multiwalled-carbon nanotube (MWCNT) exposure in young and old C57BL/6 and ApoE-/- mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Female C57BL/6 and apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE-/-) mice, aged 8 weeks and 15 months, were exposed to 0 or 40 µg MWCNT via oropharyngeal aspiration. Pulmonary inflammation, inflammatory bioactivity of serum, and neurometabolic changes were assessed at 24 h post-exposure. RESULTS: Pulmonary neutrophil infiltration was induced by MWCNT in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in both C57BL/6 and ApoE-/-. Macrophage counts decreased with MWCNT exposure in ApoE-/- mice but were unaffected by exposure in C57BL/6 mice. Older mice appeared to have greater MWCNT-induced total protein in lavage fluid. BALF cytokines and chemokines were elevated with MWCNT exposure, but CCL2, CXCL1, and CXCL10 showed reduced responses to MWCNT in older mice. However, no significant serum inflammatory bioactivity was detected. Cerebellar metabolic changes in response to MWCNT were modest, but age and strain significantly influenced metabolite profiles assessed. ApoE-/- mice and older mice exhibited less robust metabolite changes in response to exposure, suggesting a reduced health reserve. CONCLUSIONS: Age influences the pulmonary and neurological responses to short-term MWCNT exposure. However, with only the model of moderate aging (15 months) in this study, the responses appeared modest compared to inhaled toxicant impacts in more advanced aging models.

Serum peptidome: diagnostic window into pathogenic processes following occupational exposure to carbon nanomaterials.

BACKGROUND: Growing industrial use of carbon nanotubes and nanofibers (CNT/F) warrants consideration of human health outcomes. CNT/F produces pulmonary, cardiovascular, and other toxic effects in animals along with a significant release of bioactive peptides into the circulation, the augmented serum peptidome. While epidemiology among CNT/F workers reports on few acute symptoms, there remains concern over sub-clinical CNT/F effects that may prime for chronic disease, necessitating sensitive health outcome diagnostic markers for longitudinal follow-up. METHODS: Here, the serum peptidome was assessed for its biomarker potential in detecting sub-symptomatic pathobiology among CNT/F workers using label-free data-independent mass spectrometry. Studies employed a stratified design between High (> 0.5 µg/m3) and Low (< 0.1 µg/m3) inhalable CNT/F exposures in the industrial setting. Peptide biomarker model building and refinement employed linear regression and partial least squared discriminant analyses. Top-ranked peptides were then sequence identified and evaluated for pathological-relevance. RESULTS: In total, 41 peptides were found to be highly discriminatory after model building with a strong linear correlation to personal CNT/F exposure. The top-five peptide model offered ideal prediction with high accuracy (Q2 = 0.99916). Unsupervised validation affirmed 43.5% of the serum peptidomic variance was attributable to CNT/F exposure. Peptide sequence identification reveals a predominant association with vascular pathology. ARHGAP21, ADAM15 and PLPP3 peptides suggest heightened cardiovasculature permeability and F13A1, FBN1 and VWDE peptides infer a pro-thrombotic state among High CNT/F workers. CONCLUSIONS: The serum peptidome affords a diagnostic window into sub-symptomatic pathology among CNT/F exposed workers for longitudinal monitoring of systemic health risks.

Pulmonary delivery of the broad-spectrum matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor marimastat diminishes multiwalled carbon nanotube-induced circulating bioactivity without reducing pulmonary inflammation.

BACKGROUND: Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) are an increasingly utilized engineered nanomaterial that pose the potential for significant risk of exposure-related health outcomes. The mechanism(s) underlying MWCNT-induced toxicity to extrapulmonary sites are still being defined. MWCNT-induced serum-borne bioactivity appears to dysregulate systemic endothelial cell function. The serum compositional changes after MWCNT exposure have been identified as a surge of fragmented endogenous peptides, likely derived from matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity. In the present study, we utilize a broad-spectrum MMP inhibitor, Marimastat, along with a previously described oropharyngeal aspiration model of MWCNT administration to investigate the role of MMPs in MWCNT-derived serum peptide generation and endothelial bioactivity. RESULTS: C57BL/6 mice were treated with Marimastat or vehicle by oropharyngeal aspiration 1 h prior to MWCNT treatment. Pulmonary neutrophil infiltration and total bronchoalveolar lavage fluid protein increased independent of MMP blockade. The lung cytokine profile similarly increased following MWCNT exposure for major inflammatory markers (IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α), with minimal impact from MMP inhibition. However, serum peptidomic analysis revealed differential peptide compositional profiles, with MMP blockade abrogating MWCNT-derived serum peptide fragments. The serum, in turn, exhibited differential potency in terms of inflammatory bioactivity when incubated with primary murine cerebrovascular endothelial cells. Serum from MWCNT-treated mice led to inflammatory responses in endothelial cells that were significantly blunted with serum from Marimastat-treated mice. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, MWCNT exposure induced pulmonary inflammation that was largely independent of MMP activity but generated circulating bioactive peptides through predominantly MMP-dependent pathways. This MWCNT-induced lung-derived bioactivity caused pathological consequences of endothelial inflammation and barrier disruption.

Serum-borne bioactivity caused by pulmonary multiwalled carbon nanotubes induces neuroinflammation via blood-brain barrier impairment.

Pulmonary exposure to multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) causes indirect systemic inflammation through unknown pathways. MWCNTs translocate only minimally from the lungs into the systemic circulation, suggesting that extrapulmonary toxicity may be caused indirectly by lung-derived factors entering the circulation. To assess a role for MWCNT-induced circulating factors in driving neuroinflammatory outcomes, mice were acutely exposed to MWCNTs (10 or 40 µg/mouse) via oropharyngeal aspiration. At 4 h after MWCNT exposure, broad disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) was observed across the capillary bed with the small molecule fluorescein, concomitant with reactive astrocytosis. However, pronounced BBB permeation was noted, with frank albumin leakage around larger vessels (>10 µm), overlain by a dose-dependent astroglial scar-like formation and recruitment of phagocytic microglia. As affirmed by elevated inflammatory marker transcription, MWCNT-induced BBB disruption and neuroinflammation were abrogated by pretreatment with the rho kinase inhibitor fasudil. Serum from MWCNT-exposed mice induced expression of adhesion molecules in primary murine cerebrovascular endothelial cells and, in a wound-healing in vitro assay, impaired cell motility and cytokinesis. Serum thrombospondin-1 level was significantly increased after MWCNT exposure, and mice lacking the endogenous receptor CD36 were protected from the neuroinflammatory and BBB permeability effects of MWCNTs. In conclusion, acute pulmonary exposure to MWCNTs causes neuroinflammatory responses that are dependent on the disruption of BBB integrity.

Nanoparticle exposure driven circulating bioactive peptidome causes systemic inflammation and vascular dysfunction.

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms driving systemic effects consequent pulmonary nanoparticle exposure remain unclear. Recent work has established the existence of an indirect process by which factors released from the lung into the circulation promote systemic inflammation and cellular dysfunction, particularly on the vasculature. However, the composition of circulating contributing factors and how they are produced remains unknown. Evidence suggests matrix protease involvement; thus, here we used a well-characterized multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) oropharyngeal aspiration model with known vascular effects to assess the distinct contribution of nanoparticle-induced peptide fragments in driving systemic pathobiology. RESULTS: Data-independent mass spectrometry enabled the unbiased quantitative characterization of 841 significant MWCNT-responses within an enriched peptide fraction, with 567 of these factors demonstrating significant correlation across animal-paired bronchoalveolar lavage and serum biofluids. A database search curated for known matrix protease substrates and predicted signaling motifs enabled identification of 73 MWCNT-responsive peptides, which were significantly associated with an abnormal cardiovascular phenotype, extracellular matrix organization, immune-inflammatory processes, cell receptor signaling, and a MWCNT-altered serum exosome population. Production of a diverse peptidomic response was supported by a wide number of upregulated matrix and lysosomal proteases in the lung after MWCNT exposure. The peptide fraction was then found bioactive, producing endothelial cell inflammation and vascular dysfunction ex vivo akin to that induced with whole serum. Results implicate receptor ligand functionality in driving systemic effects, exemplified by an identified 59-mer thrombospondin fragment, replete with CD36 modulatory motifs, that when synthesized produced an anti-angiogenic response in vitro matching that of the peptide fraction. Other identified peptides point to integrin ligand functionality and more broadly to a diversity of receptor-mediated bioactivity induced by the peptidomic response to nanoparticle exposure. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates that pulmonary-sequestered nanoparticles, such as multi-walled carbon nanotubes, acutely upregulate a diverse profile of matrix proteases, and induce a complex peptidomic response across lung and blood compartments. The serum peptide fraction, having cell-surface receptor ligand properties, conveys peripheral bioactivity in promoting endothelial cell inflammation, vasodilatory dysfunction and inhibiting angiogenesis. Results here establish peptide fragments as indirect, non-cytokine mediators and putative biomarkers of systemic health outcomes from nanoparticle exposure.

Frontal Cortex Proteome Perturbation after Juvenile Rat Secondhand Smoke Exposure.

Secondhand smoke remains a global concern for children's health. Epidemiological studies implicate exposure to secondhand smoke as a major risk factor for behavioral disorders, yet biological causation remains unclear. Model studies have mainly focused on secondhand smoke impacts to prenatal neurodevelopment, yet juvenile exposure represents a separate risk. Using ion mobility-enhanced data-independent mass spectrometry, the effect of juvenile secondhand smoke exposure on the prefrontal cortex, a principal part of the brain involved in behavioral control, is characterized. The produced dataset includes 800 significantly responsive proteins within the juvenile orbital frontal cortex, with 716 showing an increase in abundance. The neuroproteomic response reflects a prominent perturbation within the glutamatergic synaptic system, suggesting aberrant, disorganized excitation as observed underlying psychiatric disorders. Also disclosed are impacts to GABAergic and dopaminergic systems. Overall, the dataset provides a wealth of detail, facilitating further targeted research into the causal mechanisms underlying behavioral disorders associated with juvenile exposure to secondhand smoke and other environmental pollutants. All MS data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange consortium with identifier PXD011744.

Microglial priming through the lung-brain axis: the role of air pollution-induced circulating factors.

Air pollution is implicated in neurodegenerative disease risk and progression and in microglial activation, but the mechanisms are unknown. In this study, microglia remained activated 24 h after ozone (O3) exposure in rats, suggesting a persistent signal from lung to brain. Ex vivo analysis of serum from O3-treated rats revealed an augmented microglial proinflammatory response and ß-amyloid 42 (Aß42) neurotoxicity independent of traditional circulating cytokines, where macrophage-1 antigen-mediated microglia proinflammatory priming. Aged mice exhibited reduced pulmonary immune profiles and the most pronounced neuroinflammation and microglial activation in response to mixed vehicle emissions. Consistent with this premise, cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36)(-/-) mice exhibited impaired pulmonary immune responses concurrent with augmented neuroinflammation and microglial activation in response to O3 Further, aging glia were more sensitive to the proinflammatory effects of O3 serum. Together, these findings outline the lung-brain axis, where air pollutant exposures result in circulating, cytokine-independent signals present in serum that elevate the brain proinflammatory milieu, which is linked to the pulmonary response and is further augmented with age.-Mumaw, C. L., Levesque, S., McGraw, C., Robertson, S., Lucas, S., Stafflinger, J. E., Campen, M. J., Hall, P., Norenberg, J. P., Anderson, T., Lund, A. K., McDonald, J. D., Ottens, A. K., Block, M. L. Microglial priming through the lung-brain axis: the role of air pollution-induced circulating factors.

Proteomics: in pursuit of effective traumatic brain injury therapeutics.

Effective traumatic brain injury (TBI) therapeutics remains stubbornly elusive. Efforts in the field have been challenged by the heterogeneity of clinical TBI, with greater complexity among underlying molecular phenotypes than initially conceived. Future research must confront the multitude of factors comprising this heterogeneity, representing a big data challenge befitting the coming informatics age. Proteomics is poised to serve a central role in prescriptive therapeutic development because it offers an efficient endpoint within which to assess post-TBI biochemistry. We examine rationale for multifactor TBI proteomic studies and the particular importance of temporal profiling in defining biochemical sequences and guiding therapeutic development. Finally, we offer perspective on repurposing biofluid proteomics to develop theragnostic assays with which to prescribe, monitor and assess pharmaceutics for improved translation and outcome for patients with TBI.

Anaplasma phagocytophilum Asp14 is an invasin that interacts with mammalian host cells via its C terminus to facilitate infection.

Anaplasma phagocytophilum, a member of the family Anaplasmataceae, is the tick-transmitted obligate intracellular bacterium that causes human granulocytic anaplasmosis. The life cycle of A. phagocytophilum is biphasic, transitioning between the noninfectious reticulate cell (RC) and infectious dense-cored (DC) forms. We analyzed the bacterium's DC surface proteome by selective biotinylation of surface proteins, NeutrAvidin affinity purification, and mass spectrometry. Transcriptional profiling of selected outer membrane protein candidates over the course of infection revealed that aph_0248 (designated asp14 [14-kDa A. phagocytophilum surface protein]) expression was upregulated the most during A. phagocytophilum cellular invasion. asp14 transcription was induced during transmission feeding of A. phagocytophilum-infected ticks on mice and was upregulated when the bacterium engaged its receptor, P-selectin glycoprotein ligand 1. Asp14 localized to the A. phagocytophilum surface and was expressed during in vivo infection. Treating DC organisms with Asp14 antiserum or preincubating mammalian host cells with glutathione S-transferase (GST)-Asp14 significantly inhibited infection of host cells. Moreover, preincubating host cells with GST-tagged forms of both Asp14 and outer membrane protein A, another A. phagocytophilum invasin, pronouncedly reduced infection relative to treatment with either protein alone. The Asp14 domain that is sufficient for cellular adherence and invasion lies within the C-terminal 12 to 24 amino acids and is conserved among other Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species. These results identify Asp14 as an A. phagocytophilum surface protein that is critical for infection, delineate its invasion domain, and demonstrate the potential of targeting Asp14 in concert with OmpA for protecting against infection by A. phagocytophilum and other Anaplasmataceae pathogens.

Gestational ozone inhalation elicits maternal cardiac dysfunction and transcriptional changes to placental pericytes and endothelial cells.

Ozone (O3) is a criteria air pollutant with the most frequent incidence of exceeding air quality standards. Inhalation of O3 is known to cause lung inflammation and consequent systemic health effects, including endothelial dysfunction. Epidemiologic data have shown that gestational exposure to air pollutants correlates with complications of pregnancy, including low birth weight, intrauterine growth deficiency, preeclampsia, and premature birth. Mechanisms underlying how air pollution may facilitate or exacerbate gestational complications remain poorly defined. The current study sought to uncover how gestational O3 exposure impacted maternal cardiovascular function, as well as the development of the placenta. Pregnant mice were exposed to 1PPM O3 or a sham filtered air (FA) exposure for 4 h on gestational day (GD) 10.5, and evaluated for cardiac function via echocardiography on GD18.5. Echocardiography revealed a significant reduction in maternal stroke volume and ejection fraction in maternally exposed dams. To examine the impact of maternal O3 exposure on the maternal-fetal interface, placentae were analyzed by single-cell RNA sequencing analysis. Mid-gestational O3 exposure led to significant differential expression of 4021 transcripts compared with controls, and pericytes displayed the greatest transcriptional modulation. Pathway analysis identified extracellular matrix organization to be significantly altered after the exposure, with the greatest modifications in trophoblasts, pericytes, and endothelial cells. This study provides insights into potential molecular processes during pregnancy that may be altered due to the inhalation of environmental toxicants.

High-capacity peptide-centric platform to decode the proteomic response to brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a progressive disease process underlain by dynamic and interactive biochemical mechanisms; thus, large-scale and unbiased assessments are needed to fully understand its highly complex pathobiology. Here, we report on a new high-capacity label-free proteomic platform to evaluate the post-TBI neuroproteome. Six orthogonal separation stages and data-independent MS were employed, affording reproducible quantitative assessment on 18 651 peptides across biological replicates. From these data 3587 peptides were statistically responsive to TBI of which 18% were post-translationally modified. Results revealed as many as 484 proteins in the post-TBI neuroproteome, which was fully nine times the number determined from our prior study of focal cortical injury. Yet, these data were generated using 25 times less brain tissue per animal relative to former methodology, permitting greater anatomical specificity and proper biological replication for increased statistical power. Exemplified by these data, we discuss benefits of peptide-centric differential analysis to more accurately infer novel biological findings testable in future hypothesis-driven research. The high-capacity label-free proteomic platform is designed for multi-factor studies aimed at expanding our knowledge on the molecular underpinnings of TBI and to develop better diagnostics and therapeutics.

Indirect mediators of systemic health outcomes following nanoparticle inhalation exposure.

The growing field of nanoscience has shed light on the wide diversity of natural and anthropogenic sources of nano-scale particulates, raising concern as to their impacts on human health. Inhalation is the most robust route of entry, with nanoparticles (NPs) evading mucociliary clearance and depositing deep into the alveolar region. Yet, impacts from inhaled NPs are evident far outside the lung, particularly on the cardiovascular system and highly vascularized organs like the brain. Peripheral effects are partly explained by the translocation of some NPs from the lung into the circulation; however, other NPs largely confined to the lung are still accompanied by systemic outcomes. Omic research has only just begun to inform on the complex myriad of molecules released from the lung to the blood as byproducts of pulmonary pathology. These indirect mediators are diverse in their molecular make-up and activity in the periphery. The present review examines systemic outcomes attributed to pulmonary NP exposure and what is known about indirect pathological mediators released from the lung into the circulation. Further focus was directed to outcomes in the brain, a highly vascularized region susceptible to acute and longer-term outcomes. Findings here support the need for big-data toxicological studies to understand what drives these health outcomes and better predict, circumvent, and treat the potential health impacts arising from NP exposure scenarios.

Neuroinflammatory and Neurometabolomic Consequences From Inhaled Wildfire Smoke-Derived Particulate Matter in the Western United States.

Utilizing a mobile laboratory located >300 km away from wildfire smoke (WFS) sources, this study examined the systemic immune response profile, with a focus on neuroinflammatory and neurometabolomic consequences, resulting from inhalation exposure to naturally occurring wildfires in California, Arizona, and Washington in 2020. After a 20-day (4 h/day) exposure period in a mobile laboratory stationed in New Mexico, WFS-derived particulate matter (WFPM) inhalation resulted in significant neuroinflammation while immune activity in the peripheral (lung, bone marrow) appeared to be resolved in C57BL/6 mice. Importantly, WFPM exposure increased cerebrovascular endothelial cell activation and expression of adhesion molecules (VCAM-1 and ICAM-1) in addition to increased glial activation and peripheral immune cell infiltration into the brain. Flow cytometry analysis revealed proinflammatory phenotypes of microglia and peripheral immune subsets in the brain of WFPM-exposed mice. Interestingly, endothelial cell neuroimmune activity was differentially associated with levels of PECAM-1 expression, suggesting that subsets of cerebrovascular endothelial cells were transitioning to resolution of inflammation following the 20-day exposure. Neurometabolites related to protection against aging, such as NAD+ and taurine, were decreased by WFPM exposure. Additionally, increased pathological amyloid-beta protein accumulation, a hallmark of neurodegeneration, was observed. Neuroinflammation, together with decreased levels of key neurometabolites, reflect a cluster of outcomes with important implications in priming inflammaging and aging-related neurodegenerative phenotypes.

Proteomic analysis of Anaplasma phagocytophilum during infection of human myeloid cells identifies a protein that is pronouncedly upregulated on the infectious dense-cored cell.

Anaplasma phagocytophilum is an obligate intracellular bacterium that invades neutrophils to cause the emerging infectious disease human granulocytic anaplasmosis. A. phagocytophilum undergoes a biphasic developmental cycle, transitioning between an infectious dense-cored cell (DC) and a noninfectious reticulate cell (RC). To gain insights into the organism's biology and pathogenesis during human myeloid cell infection, we conducted proteomic analyses on A. phagocytophilum organisms purified from HL-60 cells. A total of 324 proteins were unambiguously identified, thereby verifying 23.7% of the predicted A. phagocytophilum proteome. Fifty-three identified proteins had been previously annotated as hypothetical or conserved hypothetical. The second most abundant gene product, after the well-studied major surface protein 2 (P44), was the hitherto hypothetical protein APH_1235. APH_1235 homologs are found in other Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species but not in other bacteria. The aph_1235 RNA level is increased 70-fold in the DC form relative to that in the RC form. Transcriptional upregulation of and our ability to detect APH_1235 correlate with RC to DC transition, DC exit from host cells, and subsequent DC binding and entry during the next round of infection. Immunoelectron microscopy pronouncedly detects APH_1235 on DC organisms, while detection on RC bacteria minimally, at best, exceeds background. This work represents an extensive study of the A. phagocytophilum proteome, discerns the complement of proteins that is generated during survival within human myeloid cells, and identifies APH_1235 as the first known protein that is pronouncedly upregulated on the infectious DC form.

Secreted Peptides for Diagnostic Trajectory Assessments in Brain Injury Rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND: Rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury (TBI) significantly improves outcomes; yet TBI heterogeneity raises the need for molecular evidence of brain recovery processes to better track patient progress, evaluate therapeutic efficacy, and provide prognostication. OBJECTIVE: Here, we assessed whether the trajectory of TBI-responsive peptides secreted into urine can produce a predictive model of functional recovery during TBI rehabilitation. METHODS: The multivariate urinary peptidome of 12 individuals with TBI was examined using quantitative peptidomics. Measures were assessed upon admission and discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. A combination of Pavlidis template matching and partial least-squares discriminant analysis was used to build models on Disability Rating Scale (DRS) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores, with participants bifurcated into more or less functional improvement groups. RESULTS: The produced models exhibited high sensitivity and specificity with the area under the receiver operator curve being 0.99 for DRS- and 0.95 for FIM-based models using the top 20 discriminant peptides. Predictive ability for each model was assessed using robust leave-one-out cross-validation with Q2 statistics of 0.64 (P = .00012) and 0.62 (P = .011) for DRS- and FIM-based models, respectively, both with a high predictive accuracy of 0.875. Identified peptides that discriminated improved functional recovery reflected heightened neuroplasticity and synaptic refinement and diminished cell death and neuroinflammation, consistent with postacute TBI pathobiology. CONCLUSIONS: Produced models of urine-based peptide measures reflective of ongoing recovery pathobiology can inform on rehabilitation progress after TBI, warranting further study to assess refined stratification across a larger population and efficacy in assessing therapeutic interventions.

Carbon Nanotube Exposure Triggers a Cerebral Peptidomic Response: Barrier Compromise, Neuroinflammation, and a Hyperexcited State.

The unique physicochemical properties of carbon nanomaterials and their ever-growing utilization generate a serious concern for occupational risk. Pulmonary exposure to these nanoparticles induces local and systemic inflammation, cardiovascular dysfunction, and even cognitive deficits. Although multiple routes of extrapulmonary toxicity have been proposed, the mechanism for and manner of neurologic effects remain minimally understood. Here, we examine the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF)-derived peptidomic fraction as a reflection of neuropathological alterations induced by pulmonary carbon nanomaterial exposure. Male C57BL/6 mice were exposed to 10 or 40 µg of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) by oropharyngeal aspiration. Serum and CSFs were collected 4 h post exposure. An enriched peptide fraction of both biofluids was analyzed using ion mobility-enabled data-independent mass spectrometry for label-free quantification. MWCNT exposure induced a prominent peptidomic response in the blood and CSF; however, correlation between fluids was limited. Instead, we determined that a MWCNT-induced peptidomic shift occurred specific to the CSF with 292 significant responses found that were not in serum. Identified MWCNT-responsive peptides depicted a mechanism involving aberrant fibrinolysis (fibrinopeptide A), blood-brain barrier permeation (homeobox protein A4), neuroinflammation (transmembrane protein 131L) with reactivity by astrocytes and microglia, and a pro-degradative (signal transducing adapter molecule, phosphoglycerate kinase), antiplastic (AF4/FMR2 family member 1, vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein 18) state with the excitation-inhibition balance shifted to a hyperexcited (microtubule-associated protein 1B) phenotype. Overall, the significant pathologic changes observed were consistent with early neurodegenerative disease and were diagnostically reflected in the CSF peptidome.

Early Gestational Exposure to Inhaled Ozone Impairs Maternal Uterine Artery and Cardiac Function.

Exposure to air pollutants such as ozone (O3) is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, including higher incidence of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, and peripartum cardiomyopathy; however, the underlying mechanisms of this association remain unclear. We hypothesized that O3 exposures during early placental formation would lead to more adverse cardiovascular effects at term for exposed dams, as compared with late-term exposures. Pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were exposed (4 h) to either filtered air (FA) or O3 (0.3 or 1.0 ppm) at either gestational day (GD)10 or GD20, with longitudinal functional assessments and molecular endpoints conducted at term. Exposure at GD10 led to placental transcriptional changes at term that were consistent with markers in human preeclampsia, including reduced mmp10 and increased cd36, fzd1, and col1a1. O3 exposure, at both early and late gestation, induced a significant increase in maternal circulating soluble FMS-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), a known driver of preeclampsia. Otherwise, exposure to 0.3 ppm O3 at GD10 led to several late-stage cardiovascular outcomes in dams that were not evident in GD20-exposed dams, including elevated uterine artery resistance index and reduced cardiac output and stroke volume. GD10 O3 exposure proteomic profile in maternal hearts characterized by a reduction in proteins with essential roles in metabolism and mitochondrial function, whereas phosphoproteomic changes were consistent with pathways involved in cardiomyopathic responses. Thus, the developing placenta is an indirect target of inhaled O3 and systemic maternal cardiovascular abnormalities may be induced by O3 exposure at a specific window of gestation.

Common data elements for traumatic brain injury: recommendations from the biospecimens and biomarkers working group.

Recent advances in genomics, proteomics, and biotechnology have provided unprecedented opportunities for translational research and personalized medicine. Human biospecimens and biofluids represent an important resource from which molecular data can be generated to detect and classify injury and to identify molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets. To date, there has been considerable variability in biospecimen and biofluid collection, storage, and processing in traumatic brain injury (TBI) studies. To realize the full potential of this important resource, standardization and adoption of best practice guidelines are required to insure the quality and consistency of these specimens. The aim of the Biospecimens and Biomarkers Working Group was to provide recommendations for core data elements for TBI research and develop best practice guidelines to standardize the quality and accessibility of these specimens. Consensus recommendations were developed through interactions with focus groups and input from stakeholders participating in the interagency workshop on Standardization of Data Collection in TBI and Psychological Health held in Washington, DC, in March 2009. With the adoption of these standards and best practices, future investigators will be able to obtain data across multiple studies with reduced costs and effort and accelerate the progress of genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic research in TBI.

Development and temporal organization of repetitive behavior in an animal model.

Despite repetitive behaviors being a common feature of a number of clinical disorders and ubiquitous in normative development, little attention has been given to their ontogeny or temporal dynamics. We characterized these features in a mouse model of repetitive behavior to identify discrete trajectories of development and developmental changes in temporal dynamics. Three qualitatively distinct trajectory groups were identified which allowed for an examination of the interaction between temporal organization and developmental trajectory. Significant differences in temporal dynamics were found across development and among trajectory groups. Significant interactions of trajectory group and developmental period on temporal organization were also found. The combination of group-based trajectory modeling and a novel method for analysis and graphic depiction of temporal organization allowed for the exploration of the interplay between these two fundamental behavioral processes. Such methods may be useful tools in the assessment and treatment of repetitive behavior in clinical populations.

The methodology of neuroproteomics.

The human central nervous system (CNS) is the most complex organ in nature, composed of ten trillion cells forming complex neural networks using a quadrillion synaptic connections. Proteins, their modifications, and their interactions are integral to CNS function. The emerging field of neuroproteomics provides us with a wide-scope view of posttranslation protein dynamics within the CNS to better our understanding of its function, and more often, its dysfunction consequent to neurodegenerative disorders. This chapter reviews methodology employed in the neurosciences to study the neuroproteome in health and disease. The chapter layout parallels this volume's four parts. Part I focuses on modeling human neuropathology in animals as surrogate, accessible, and controllable platforms in our research. Part II discusses methodology used to focus analysis onto a subneuroproteome. Part III reviews analytical and bioinformatic technologies applied in neuroproteomics. Part IV discusses clinical neuroproteomics, from processing of human biofluids to translation in biomarkers research. Neuroproteomics continues to mature as a discipline, confronting the extreme complexity of the CNS proteome and its dynamics, and providing insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying how our nervous system works and how it is compromised by injury and disease.