Childhood exposure to ambient polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is linked to epigenetic modifications and impaired systemic immunity in T cells.

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) increases atopy; it is unclear how PAH exposure is linked to increased severity of atopic diseases. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that ambient PAH exposure is linked to impairment of immunity in atopic children (defined as children with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis) from Fresno, California, an area with elevated ambient PAHs. METHODS: We recruited 256 subjects from Fresno, CA. Ambient PAH concentrations (ng/m(3) ) were measured using a spatial-temporal regression model over multiple time periods. Asthma diagnosis was determined by current NHLBI criteria. Phenotyping and functional immune measurements were performed from isolated cells. For epigenetic measurements, DNA was isolated and pyrosequenced. RESULTS: We show that higher average PAH exposure was significantly associated with impaired Treg function and increased methylation in the forkhead box protein 3 (FOXP3) locus (P < 0.05), conditional on atopic status. These epigenetic modifications were significantly linked to differential protein expression of FOXP3 (P < 0.001). Methylation was associated with cellular functional changes, specifically Treg dysfunction, and an increase in total plasma IgE levels. Protein expression of IL-10 decreased and IFN-γ increased as the extent of PAH exposure increased. The strength of the associations generally increased as the time window for average PAH exposure increased from 24 hr to 1 year, suggesting more of a chronic response. Significant associations with chronic PAH exposure and immune outcomes were also observed in subjects with allergic rhinitis. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Collectively, these results demonstrate that increased ambient PAH exposure is associated with impaired systemic immunity and epigenetic modifications in a key locus involved in atopy: FOXP3, with a higher impact on atopic children. The results suggest that increased atopic clinical symptoms in children could be linked to increased PAH exposure in air pollution.

Partial proteolytic protein maps: Cleveland revisited.

Low concentrations of sodium dodecyl sulfate have a dramatic effect on the partial proteolytic products obtained by digesting bovine serum albumin with chymotrypsin or trypsin. The effect observed may be important for the interpretation of peptide maps obtained by the method of D. W. Cleveland et al. [(1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 1102-1106].

Double-stranded DNA induces the phosphorylation of several proteins including the 90 000 mol. wt. heat-shock protein in animal cell extracts.

Double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) induces the transfer of phosphate from ATP to several proteins in extracts of widely divergent eukaryotic cells. Extracts of HeLa cells, rabbit reticulocytes, Xenopus eggs and Arbacia eggs all show dsDNA-dependent protein phosphorylation. The mechanism is specific for dsDNA and will not respond to either RNA or single-stranded DNA. One of the proteins which is phosphorylated in response to dsDNA has a subunit mol. wt. of 90 000 and has been identified as a heat-shock protein (hsp90). Although mouse cell extracts were shown to contain hsp90, they failed to show a dsDNA-dependent protein phosphorylation. The observation that dsDNA can modulate the phosphorylation of a set of proteins raises the possibility that dsDNA may play a role as a cellular regulatory signal.

Nickel oxide: potential carcinogenicity--a review and further evidence.

A survey of the epidemiological and experimental evidence for nickel compound carcinogenesis suggests that nickel and nickel oxide should not be considered carcinogens for risk-assessment purposes. A rationalization of the observed experimental results from animal models using all exposure routes and based on differential solubilities in water and lipid has been proposed and explored in vitro with C3H10T1/2 cell-transformation studies. The results generated did not support this theory, but did support the argument that nickel and its oxide are noncarcinogenic. It is proposed that the IARC risk classification for nickel and nickel oxide should be modified accordingly.

Paternal effects of ethanol in the long-evans rat.

Ten male Long-Evans rats were given 20% v/v ethanol in the drinking water for 60 consecutive days. Ten other males were given distilled water and served as controls. Each male was then allowed to mate with three virgin female Long-Evans rats, once per week for three consecutive weeks. The males were necropsied after the third mating, the females were killed on d 20 of gestation, and the offspring were examined for parameters of fetal growth, skeletal ossification, and soft-tissue anomalies. Ethanol caused testicular weight reductions and gross testicular atrophy in 1 of 10 males. Five matings of alcoholic male rats proved infertile. Total embryonic deaths (resorptions and preimplantation loss) were increased by ethanol, while implantations and litter size were significantly decreased. Fetuses fathered by alcoholic male rats were malformed: 55% had soft-tissue anomalies (microcephalus, microphthalmia, cranial fissure, and hydronephrosis). Litter weight and average pups weights were also reduced by paternal ethanol consumption. No recovery in reproductive function was evident over the 21-d post-ethanol mating period.

Cholinergic inhibition of acetylcholine release in the electric organ of Torpedo.

The possibility that acetylcholine (ACh) may inhibit its own release from nerve terminals by acting on presynaptic receptors has been investigated using the electric organ of Torpedo marmorata. ACh release was analysed by electrophysiological and biochemical methods conjointly. Oxotremorine, at micromolar concentrations, depressed nerve-electroplaque transmission by reducing the amount of ACh released by nerve impulses. This effect was competitively antagonised by nanomolar concentrations of atropine or methylatropine. Other muscarinic agonists, betanechol, pilocarpine and muscarine, however, failed to depress transmission but choline was effective at high concentrations. Anticholinesterase drugs, physostigmine, neostigmine or fluostigmine (diisopropylfluorophosphate, given as pretreatment and subsequently washed out) markedly depressed evoked ACh release. When cholinesterase was inhibited, the addition of oxotremorine or exogenous ACh caused a further depression of ACh release. Atropine was found to be very effective in reversing the depression of transmitter release produced by anticholinesterases. Looking for the mechanism of these presynaptic changes, we found that oxotremorine had little, if any, effect on the size of the ACh store of the tissue, on the compartmentation of ACh inside and outside synaptic vesicles, or on the rate of ACh turnover. The changes induced by oxotremorine cannot be explained by a reduction in calcium entry, since the presence of oxotremorine did not change the uptake of 45Ca observed after repetitive stimulation. Electrophysiological techniques were used to test for an effect of atropine in experiments where transmission of one impulse was expected to depress ACh release by subsequent impulses. This depression was not affected atropine, making it unlikely that the 'muscarinic' inhibition of ACh release has a role as a short-term feedback regulation of transmission. A second possibility is that oxotremorine (and external non-hydrolysed ACh) can enter the presynaptic membrane and interfere with the mechanism of transmitter release.

Dichlorvos -- a 2-year inhalation carcinogenesis study in rats.

To determine the effects of dichlorvos vapour on the tumour incidence in rats, 5 week old Carworth Farm E strain rats weighing between 94 and 150 g were exposed to 0, 0.05, 0.5 and 5.0 mg/m3 in a 2-year inhalation study. The growth rate of all treated rats was depressed, particularly in the males. There was increased survival of the rats exposed to 5 mg/m3. There were no consistent differences in food intakes, organ weights, haematological or blood chemistry estimations, except in cholinesterase activites, amongst the various groups of rats. No compound-related differences were seen in acetylcholine and choline estimations carried out on a small number of female rats' brain tissues after two years' exposure. There were no gross or microscopical compound-related changes in the rats' tissues. Ultrastructural examination of the respiratory tissues of the rats from the control and 5 mg/m3 group showed no changes attributable to dichlorvos. The results of a relative risk analysis of the tumour data showed that no dose-related increase in tumour risk was established for rats of either sex. These data confirm the results of earlier st.udies supporting the safety of insecticidal uses of dichlorvos.