Acute and repeated exposures of normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells culture to particles from a coloured pyrotechnic smoke.

Coloured pyrotechnic smokes are frequently used in the military field and occasionally by civilians, but their health hazards have been little studied. The main concern could rise from inhalation of smoke particles. Our previous study showed that acute exposure to particles from a red signalling smoke (RSS) induced an antioxidant and inflammatory responses in small airway epithelial cells. The aim of this study was to further explore the toxicity of RSS particles at a more proximal level of the respiratory tract, using normal human bronchial epithelial cells grown at the Air-Liquid Interface. Acute exposure (24 h) induced an oxidative stress that persisted 24 h post-exposure, associated with particle internalization and epithelium morphological changes (cuboidal appearance and loss of cilia). Repeated exposures (4×16h) to RSS particles did not trigger oxidative stress but cell morphological changes occurred. Overall, this study provides a better overview of the toxic effects of coloured smoke particles.

The food additive titanium dioxide hinders intestinal production of TGF-ß and IL-10 in mice, and long-term exposure in adults or from perinatal life blocks oral tolerance to ovalbumin.

Food hypersensitivities are increasing in industrialized countries, and foodborne nanoparticles (NPs) are suspected as co-factors in their aetiology. Food-grade titanium dioxide (fg-TiO2), a food colouring agent, is composed of NPs with immunomodulatory properties. We investigated whether fg-TiO2 may compromise the establishment of oral tolerance (OT) to food proteins using a model of OT induction to ovalbumin (OVA) in mice, and whether a perinatal exposure could trigger this effect. In pregnant mice fed a TiO2-enriched diet, ICP-MS and TEM-EDX analyses showed passage of TiO2 NPs into the foetus. When their weaned offspring were fed the same diet, a breakdown in OT to OVA was observed at adulthood, characterized by a high anti-OVA IgG production compared to controls. However, adult mice directly exposed to fg-TiO2 did not induce OT to OVA either, ruling out a developmental origin for these effects. When these mice were orally challenged with OVA, intestinal inflammation demonstrated hypersensitivity to OVA. In OVA-naïve mice, fg-TiO2 exposure impaired intestinal TGF-ß and IL-10 production, of key role in OT induction and maintenance. These findings showed that long-term exposure to TiO2 as food additive alters anti-inflammatory cytokine profile, and leads to OT failure regardless of the timing of TiO2 exposure throughout life.

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated inactivation of the phosphatase activity of soluble epoxide hydrolase prevents obesity and cardiac ischemic injury.

INTRODUCTION: Although the physiological role of the C-terminal hydrolase domain of the soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH-H) is well investigated, the function of its N-terminal phosphatase activity (sEH-P) remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess in vivo the physiological role of sEH-P. METHODS: CRISPR/Cas9 was used to generate a novel knock-in (KI) rat line lacking the sEH-P activity. RESULTS: The sEH-P KI rats has a decreased metabolism of lysophosphatidic acids to monoacyglycerols. KI rats grew almost normally but with less weight and fat mass gain while insulin sensitivity was increased compared to wild-type rats. This lean phenotype was more marked in males than in female KI rats and mainly due to decreased food consumption and enhanced energy expenditure. In fact, sEH-P KI rats had an increased lipolysis allowing to supply fatty acids as fuel to potentiate brown adipose thermogenesis under resting condition and upon cold exposure. The potentiation of thermogenesis was abolished when blocking PPARγ, a nuclear receptor activated by intracellular lysophosphatidic acids, but also when inhibiting simultaneously sEH-H, showing a functional interaction between the two domains. Furthermore, sEH-P KI rats fed a high-fat diet did not gain as much weight as the wild-type rats, did not have increased fat mass and did not develop insulin resistance or hepatic steatosis. In addition, sEH-P KI rats exhibited enhanced basal cardiac mitochondrial activity associated with an enhanced left ventricular contractility and were protected against cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury. CONCLUSION: Our study reveals that sEH-P is a key player in energy and fat metabolism and contributes together with sEH-H to the regulation of cardiometabolic homeostasis. The development of pharmacological inhibitors of sEH-P appears of crucial importance to evaluate the interest of this promising therapeutic strategy in the management of obesity and cardiac ischemic complications.

Endothelium-Specific Deficiency of Polycystin-1 Promotes Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disorders.

BACKGROUND: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease is the most frequent hereditary kidney disease and is generally due to mutations in PKD1 and PKD2, encoding polycystins 1 and 2. In autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, hypertension and cardiovascular disorders are highly prevalent, but their mechanisms are partially understood. METHODS: Since endothelial cells express the polycystin complex, where it plays a central role in the mechanotransduction of blood flow, we generated a murine model with inducible deletion of Pkd1 in endothelial cells (Cdh5-CreERT2;Pkd1fl/fl) to specifically determine the role of endothelial polycystin-1 in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. RESULTS: Endothelial deletion of Pkd1 induced endothelial dysfunction, as demonstrated by impaired flow-mediated dilatation of resistance arteries and impaired relaxation to acetylcholine, increased blood pressure and prevented the normal development of arteriovenous fistula. In experimental chronic kidney disease induced by subtotal nephrectomy, endothelial deletion of Pkd1 further aggravated endothelial dysfunction, vascular remodeling, and heart hypertrophy. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, this study provides the first in vivo demonstration that specific deletion of Pkd1 in endothelial cells promotes endothelial dysfunction and hypertension, impairs arteriovenous fistula development, and potentiates the cardiovascular alterations associated with chronic kidney disease.

Priming of Cardiopulmonary Bypass with Human Albumin Decreases Endothelial Dysfunction after Pulmonary Ischemia-Reperfusion in an Animal Model.

The routine use of mechanical circulatory support during lung transplantation (LTx) is still controversial. The use of prophylactic human albumin (HA) or hypertonic sodium lactate (HSL) prime in mechanical circulatory support during LTx could prevent ischemia−reperfusion (IR) injuries and pulmonary endothelial dysfunction and thus prevent the development of pulmonary graft dysfunction. The objective was to investigate the impact of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) priming with HA and HSL compared to a CPB prime with Gelofusine (GF) on pulmonary endothelial dysfunction in a lung IR rat model. Rats were assigned to four groups: IR-CPB-GF group, IR-CPB-HA group, IR-CPB-HSL group and a sham group. The study of pulmonary vascular reactivity by wire myograph was the primary outcome. Glycocalyx degradation (syndecan-1 and heparan) was also assessed by ELISA and electron microscopy, systemic and pulmonary inflammation by ELISA (IL-1ß, IL-10, and TNF-α) and immunohistochemistry. Clinical parameters were evaluated. We employed a CPB model with three different primings, permitting femoral−femoral assistance with left pulmonary hilum ischemia for IR. Pulmonary endothelium-dependent relaxation to acetylcholine was significantly decreased in the IR-CPB-GF group (11.9 ± 6.2%) compared to the IR-CPB-HA group (52.8 ± 5.2%, p < 0.0001), the IR-CPB-HSL group (57.7 ± 6.3%, p < 0.0001) and the sham group (80.8 ± 6.5%, p < 0.0001). We did not observe any difference between the groups concerning glycocalyx degradation, and systemic or tissular inflammation. The IR-CPB-HSL group needed more vascular filling and developed significantly more pulmonary edema than the IR-CPB-GF group and the IR-CPB-HA group. Using HA as a prime in CPB during Ltx could decrease pulmonary endothelial dysfunction's IR-mediated effects. No effects of HA were found on inflammation.

Combined Electron Microscopy Approaches for Arterial Glycocalyx Visualization.

Mainly constituted of glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans, the glycocalyx is anchored in the plasma membrane, covering, in particular, the extracellular face of the arterial endothelium. Due to its complex three-dimensional (3D) architecture, the glycocalyx interacts with a wide variety of proteins, contributing to vascular permeability, the flow of mechanotransduction, and the modulation of local inflammatory processes. Alterations of glycocalyx structure mediate the endothelial dysfunction and contribute to the aggravation of peripheral vascular diseases. Therefore, the exploration of its ultrastructure becomes a priority to evaluate the degree of injury under physiopathological conditions and to assess the impact of therapeutic approaches. The objective of this study was to develop innovative approaches in electron microscopy to visualize the glycocalyx at the subcellular scale. Intravenous perfusion on rats with a fixing solution containing aldehyde fixatives enriched with lanthanum ions was performed to prepare arterial samples. The addition of lanthanum nitrate in the fixing solution allowed the enhancement of the staining of the glycocalyx for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and to detect elastic and inelastic scattered electrons, providing complementary qualitative information. The strength of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used on resin-embedded serial sections, allowing rapid and efficient large field imaging and previous correlative TEM observations for ultrastructural fine details. To demonstrate the dynamic feature of the glycocalyx, 3D tomography was provided by dual-beam focus-ion-beam-SEM (FIB-SEM). These approaches allowed us to visualize and characterize the ultrastructure of the pulmonary artery glycocalyx under physiological conditions and in a rat pulmonary ischemia-reperfusion model, known to induce endothelial dysfunction. This study demonstrates the feasibility of combined SEM, TEM, and FIB-SEM tomography approaches on the same sample as the multiscale visualization and the identification of structural indicators of arterial endothelial glycocalyx integrity.

Development of a standardized in vitro approach to evaluate microphysical, chemical, and toxicological properties of combustion-derived fine and ultrafine particles.

Ultrafine particles represent a growing concern in the public health community but their precise role in many illnesses is still unknown. This lack of knowledge is related to the experimental difficulty in linking their biological effects to their multiple properties, which are important determinants of toxicity. Our aim is to propose an interdisciplinary approach to study fine (FP) and ultrafine (UFP) particles, generated in a controlled manner using a miniCAST (Combustion Aerosol Standard) soot generator used with two different operating conditions (CAST1 and CAST3). The chemical characterization was performed by an untargeted analysis using ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry. In conjunction with this approach, subsequent analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was performed to identify polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). CAST1 enabled the generation of FP with a predominance of small PAH molecules, and CAST3 enabled the generation of UFP, which presented higher numbers of carbon atoms corresponding to larger PAH molecules. Healthy normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells differentiated at the air-liquid interface (ALI) were directly exposed to these freshly emitted FP and UFP. Expression of MUC5AC, FOXJ1, OCLN and ZOI as well as microscopic observation confirmed the ciliated pseudostratified epithelial phenotype. Study of the mass deposition efficiency revealed a difference between the two operating conditions, probably due to the morphological differences between the two categories of particles. We demonstrated that only NHBE cells exposed to CAST3 particles induced upregulation in the gene expression of IL-8 and NQO1. This approach offers new perspectives to study FP and UFP with stable and controlled properties.

Ultrafine Particles Issued from Gasoline-Fuels and Biofuel Surrogates Combustion: A Comparative Study of the Physicochemical and In Vitro Toxicological Effects.

Gasoline emissions contain high levels of pollutants, including particulate matter (PM), which are associated with several health outcomes. Moreover, due to the depletion of fossil fuels, biofuels represent an attractive alternative, particularly second-generation biofuels (B2G) derived from lignocellulosic biomass. Unfortunately, compared to the abundant literature on diesel and gasoline emissions, relatively few studies are devoted to alternative fuels and their health effects. This study aimed to compare the adverse effects of gasoline and B2G emissions on human bronchial epithelial cells. We characterized the emissions generated by propane combustion (CAST1), gasoline Surrogate, and B2G consisting of Surrogate blended with anisole (10%) (S+10A) or ethanol (10%) (S+10E). To study the cellular effects, BEAS-2B cells were cultured at air-liquid interface for seven days and exposed to different emissions. Cell viability, oxidative stress, inflammation, and xenobiotic metabolism were measured. mRNA expression analysis was significantly modified by the Surrogate S+10A and S+10E emissions, especially CYP1A1 and CYP1B1. Inflammation markers, IL-6 and IL-8, were mainly downregulated doubtless due to the PAHs content on PM. Overall, these results demonstrated that ultrafine particles generated from biofuels Surrogates had a toxic effect at least similar to that observed with a gasoline substitute (Surrogate), involving probably different toxicity pathways.

Cardiopulmonary bypass increases endothelial dysfunction after pulmonary ischaemia-reperfusion in an animal model.

OBJECTIVES: Endothelial dysfunction during ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) is a major cause of primary graft dysfunction during lung transplantation. The routine use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) during lung transplantation remains controversial. However, the contribution of CPB to pulmonary endothelial dysfunction remains unclear. The objective was to investigate the impact of CPB on endothelial dysfunction in a lung IR rat model. METHODS: Rats were allocated to 4 groups: (i) Sham, (ii) IR, (iii) CPB and (iv) IR-CPB. The primary outcome was the study of pulmonary vascular reactivity by wire myograph. We also assessed glycocalyx degradation by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and electron microscopy and both systemic and pulmonary inflammation by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunohistochemistry. Rats were exposed to 45 min of CPB and IR. We used a CPB model allowing femoro-femoral support with left pulmonary hilum ischaemia for IR. RESULTS: Pulmonary endothelium-dependent relaxation to acetylcholine was markedly reduced in the IR-CPB group (10.7 ± 9.1%) compared to the IR group (50.5 ± 5.2%, P < 0.001), the CPB group (54.1 ± 4.7%, P < 0.001) and the sham group (80.8 ± 6.7%, P < 0.001), suggesting that the association of pulmonary IR and CPB increases endothelial dysfunction. In IR-CPB, IR and CPB groups, vasorelaxation was completely abolished when inhibiting nitric oxide synthase, suggesting that this relaxation process was mainly mediated by nitric oxide. We observed higher syndecan-1 plasma levels in the IR-CPB group in comparison with the other groups, reflecting an increased degradation of glycocalyx. We also observed higher systemic inflammation in the IR-CPB group as shown by the increased plasma levels of IL-1ß, IL-10. CONCLUSIONS: CPB significantly increased the IR-mediated effects on pulmonary endothelial dysfunction. Therefore, the use of CPB during lung transplantation could be deleterious, by increasing endothelial dysfunction.

Golgi-mediated synthesis and secretion of matrix polysaccharides of the primary cell wall of higher plants.

The Golgi apparatus of eukaryotic cells is known for its central role in the processing, sorting, and transport of proteins to intra- and extra-cellular compartments. In plants, it has the additional task of assembling and exporting the non-cellulosic polysaccharides of the cell wall matrix including pectin and hemicelluloses, which are important for plant development and protection. In this review, we focus on the biosynthesis of complex polysaccharides of the primary cell wall of eudicotyledonous plants. We present and discuss the compartmental organization of the Golgi stacks with regards to complex polysaccharide assembly and secretion using immuno-electron microscopy and specific antibodies recognizing various sugar epitopes. We also discuss the significance of the recently identified Golgi-localized glycosyltransferases responsible for the biosynthesis of xyloglucan (XyG) and pectin.

STEM nanoanalysis of Au/Pt/Ti-Si3N4 interfacial defects and reactions during local stress of SiGe HBTs.

A new insight on the behavior of metal contact-insulating interfaces in SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor is given by high-performance aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) analysis tools equipped with sub-nanometric probe size. It is demonstrated that the presence of initial defects introduced during technological processes play a major role in the acceleration of degradation mechanisms of the structure during stress. A combination of energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy analysis with high angle annular dark field STEM and energy dispersive spectroscopy provides strong evidence that migration of Au-Pt from the metal contacts to Ti/Si3N4 interface is one of the precursors to species interdiffusion and reactions. High current densities and related local heating effects induce the evolution of the pure Ti initial layer into mixture layer composed of Ti, O, and N. Local contamination of Ti layers by fluorine atoms is also pointed out, as well as rupture of TiN thin barrier layer.

Subcompartment localization of the side chain xyloglucan-synthesizing enzymes within Golgi stacks of tobacco suspension-cultured cells.

Xyloglucan is the dominant hemicellulosic polysaccharide of the primary cell wall of dicotyledonous plants that plays a key role in plant development. It is well established that xyloglucan is assembled within Golgi stacks and transported in Golgi-derived vesicles to the cell wall. It is also known that the biosynthesis of xyloglucan requires the action of glycosyltransferases including α-1,6-xylosyltransferase, ß-1,2-galactosyltransferase and α-1,2-fucosyltransferase activities responsible for the addition of xylose, galactose and fucose residues to the side chains. There is, however, a lack of knowledge on how these enzymes are distributed within subcompartments of Golgi stacks. We have undertaken a study aiming at mapping these glycosyltransferases within Golgi stacks using immunogold-electron microscopy. To this end, we generated transgenic lines of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) BY-2 suspension-cultured cells expressing either the α-1,6-xylosyltransferase, AtXT1, the ß-1,2-galactosyltransferase, AtMUR3, or the α-1,2-fucosyltransferase AtFUT1 of Arabidopsis thaliana fused to green-fluorescent protein (GFP). Localization of the fusion proteins within the endomembrane system was assessed using confocal microscopy. Additionally, tobacco cells were high pressure-frozen/freeze-substituted and subjected to quantitative immunogold labelling using anti-GFP antibodies to determine the localization patterns of the enzymes within subtypes of Golgi cisternae. The data demonstrate that: (i) all fusion proteins, AtXT1-GFP, AtMUR3-GFP and AtFUT1-GFP are specifically targeted to the Golgi apparatus; and (ii) AtXT1-GFP is mainly located in the cis and medial cisternae, AtMUR3-GFP is predominantly associated with medial cisternae and AtFUT1-GFP mostly detected over trans cisternae suggesting that initiation of xyloglucan side chains occurs in early Golgi compartments in tobacco cells.

Chromogranin A promotes peptide hormone sorting to mobile granules in constitutively and regulated secreting cells: role of conserved N- and C-terminal peptides.

Chromogranin A (CgA) has been proposed to play a major role in the formation of dense-core secretory granules (DCGs) in neuroendocrine cells. Here, we took advantage of unique features of the frog CgA (fCgA) to assess the role of this granin and its potential functional determinants in hormone sorting during DCG biogenesis. Expression of fCgA in the constitutively secreting COS-7 cells induced the formation of mobile vesicular structures, which contained cotransfected peptide hormones. The fCgA and the hormones coexpressed in the newly formed vesicles could be released in a regulated manner. The N- and C-terminal regions of fCgA, which exhibit remarkable sequence conservation with their mammalian counterparts were found to be essential for the formation of the mobile DCG-like structures in COS-7 cells. Expression of fCgA in the corticotrope AtT20 cells increased pro-opiomelanocortin levels in DCGs, whereas the expression of N- and C-terminal deletion mutants provoked retention of the hormone in the Golgi area. Furthermore, fCgA, but not its truncated forms, promoted pro-opiomelanocortin sorting to the regulated secretory pathway. These data demonstrate that CgA has the intrinsic capacity to induce the formation of mobile secretory granules and to promote the sorting and release of peptide hormones. The conserved terminal peptides are instrumental for these activities of CgA.

Disruption of arabinogalactan proteins disorganizes cortical microtubules in the root of Arabidopsis thaliana.

The cortical array of microtubules inside the cell and arabinogalactan proteins on the external surface of the cell are each implicated in plant morphogenesis. To determine whether the cortical array is influenced by arabinogalactan proteins, we first treated Arabidopsis roots with a Yariv reagent that binds arabinogalactan proteins. Cortical microtubules were markedly disorganized by 1 microM beta-D-glucosyl (active) Yariv but not by up to 10 microM beta-D-mannosyl (inactive) Yariv. This was observed for 24-h treatments in wild-type roots, fixed and stained with anti-tubulin antibodies, as well as in living roots expressing a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter for microtubules. Using the reporter line, microtubule disorganization was evident within 10 min of treatment with 5 microM active Yariv and extensive by 30 min. Active Yariv (5 microM) disorganized cortical microtubules after gadolinium pre-treatment, suggesting that this effect is independent of calcium influx across the plasma membrane. Similar effects on cortical microtubules, over a similar time scale, were induced by two anti-arabinogalactan-protein antibodies (JIM13 and JIM14) but not by antibodies recognizing pectin or xyloglucan epitopes. Active Yariv, JIM13, and JIM14 caused arabinogalactan proteins to aggregate rapidly, as assessed either in fixed wild-type roots or in the living cells of a line expressing a plasma membrane-anchored arabinogalactan protein from tomato fused to GFP. Finally, electron microscopy of roots prepared by high-pressure freezing showed that treatment with 5 microM active Yariv for 2 h significantly increased the distance between cortical microtubules and the plasma membrane. These findings demonstrate that cell surface arabinogalactan proteins influence the organization of cortical microtubules.

Response of the leaf cell wall to desiccation in the resurrection plant Myrothamnus flabellifolius.

The Myrothamnus flabellifolius leaf cell wall and its response to desiccation were investigated using electron microscopic, biochemical, and immunocytochemical techniques. Electron microscopy revealed desiccation-induced cell wall folding in the majority of mesophyll and epidermal cells. Thick-walled vascular tissue and sclerenchymous ribs did not fold and supported the surrounding tissue, thereby limiting the extent of leaf shrinkage and allowing leaf morphology to be rapidly regained upon rehydration. Isolated cell walls from hydrated and desiccated M. flabellifolius leaves were fractionated into their constituent polymers and the resulting fractions were analyzed for monosaccharide content. Significant differences between hydrated and desiccated states were observed in the water-soluble buffer extract, pectin fractions, and the arabinogalactan protein-rich extract. A marked increase in galacturonic acid was found in the alkali-insoluble pectic fraction. Xyloglucan structure was analyzed and shown to be of the standard dicotyledonous pattern. Immunocytochemical analysis determined the cellular location of the various epitopes associated with cell wall components, including pectin, xyloglucan, and arabinogalactan proteins, in hydrated and desiccated leaf tissue. The most striking observation was a constitutively present high concentration of arabinose, which was associated with pectin, presumably in the form of arabinan polymers. We propose that the arabinan-rich leaf cell wall of M. flabellifolius possesses the necessary structural properties to be able to undergo repeated periods of desiccation and rehydration.