RESUMO
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common class of human birth defects, with a prevalence of 0.9% of births. However, two-thirds of cases have an unknown cause, and many of these are thought to be caused by in utero exposure to environmental teratogens. Here we identify a potential teratogen causing CHD in mice: maternal iron deficiency (ID). We show that maternal ID in mice causes severe cardiovascular defects in the offspring. These defects likely arise from increased retinoic acid signalling in ID embryos. The defects can be prevented by iron administration in early pregnancy. It has also been proposed that teratogen exposure may potentiate the effects of genetic predisposition to CHD through gene-environment interaction. Here we show that maternal ID increases the severity of heart and craniofacial defects in a mouse model of Down syndrome. It will be important to understand if the effects of maternal ID seen here in mice may have clinical implications for women.
Assuntos
Sistema Cardiovascular/embriologia , Embrião de Mamíferos/patologia , Deficiências de Ferro , Animais , Aorta Torácica/anormalidades , Biomarcadores/metabolismo , Diferenciação Celular , Vasos Coronários/embriologia , Vasos Coronários/patologia , Suplementos Nutricionais , Edema/patologia , Embrião de Mamíferos/anormalidades , Desenvolvimento Embrionário , Feminino , Perfilação da Expressão Gênica , Interação Gene-Ambiente , Proteínas de Fluorescência Verde/metabolismo , Ferro/metabolismo , Vasos Linfáticos/embriologia , Vasos Linfáticos/patologia , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Miocárdio/patologia , Miócitos Cardíacos/metabolismo , Miócitos Cardíacos/patologia , Penetrância , Fenótipo , Gravidez , Transdução de Sinais , Células-Tronco/patologia , Transgenes , Tretinoína/metabolismoRESUMO
This study aimed at the development of improved drugs against human osteosarcoma, which is the most common primary bone tumor in children and teenagers with a low prognosis. New insights into the impact of an unconventional Pd(II) anticancer agent on human osteosarcoma cells were obtained by synchrotron radiation-Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy and quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) experiments from its effect on the cellular metabolism to its influence on intracellular water, which can be regarded as a potential secondary pharmacological target. Specific infrared biomarkers of drug action were identified, enabling a molecular-level description of variations in cellular biochemistry upon drug exposure. The main changes were detected in the protein and lipid cellular components, namely, in the ratio of unsaturated-to-saturated fatty acids. QENS revealed reduced water mobility within the cytoplasm for drug-treated cells, coupled to a disruption of the hydration layers of biomolecules. Additionally, the chemical and dynamical profiles of osteosarcoma cells were compared to those of metastatic breast cancer cells, revealing distinct dissimilarities that may influence drug activity.