Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2014-06-13"
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- Chlorinated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Associated with Drinking Water Disinfection: Synthesis, Formation under Aqueous Chlorination Conditions and Genotoxic EffectsPublication . Pinto, Miguel; Rebola, Marlene; Louro, Henriqueta; Antunes, Alexandra M.M.; José, Silvia S.; Rocha, Maria; Silva, Maria João; Cardoso, Ana SofiaPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are among the most persistent and toxic organic micropollutants present in water and several of them are mutagenic and carcinogenic. Although it has been shown that chlorinated derivatives of PAHs (Cl-PAHs) may be formed during the water chlorination procedure, little is known about their potential genotoxic and carcinogenic effects. The objectives of the present work were to prepare and characterize the major chlorinated derivatives of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and fluoranthene (Fluo), to develop an analytical methodology for their quantification in water samples and to analyse their potential genotoxicity. Chlorinated standards were prepared by a newly developed two phase method (water/n-hexane) using sodium hypochlorite. 6-Chloro-benzo[a]pyrene was selectively obtained from BaP, while 1,3- dichloro-fluoranthene and 3-chloro-fluoranthene were obtained from Fluo. All products were isolated and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. The formation of BaP- and Fluo-chlorinated derivatives under aqueous chlorination conditions was observed using a SPE-HPLC-FLD methodology. In addition, the cytotoxic and genotoxic activities of the three chlorinated derivatives were analyzed in comparison to their parent compounds, in a human-derived hepatoma cell line using the neutral red uptake and comet assays, respectively. The results showed that, at the equimolar doses of 100 and 125 μM, 6-Cl-BaP was able to induce a significantly higher level of DNA damage than BaP, suggesting a more potent genotoxic effect. In contrast, neither Fluo nor its chlorinated derivatives were genotoxic in the same cell line. The identification of new and possibly hazardous water chlorination by-product from PAHs emphasizes the need to minimize total organic carbon content of raw water and the implementation of safer water disinfection methods.
- The impact of the metabotropic glutamate receptor and other gene family interaction networks on autismPublication . Hadley, D.; Wu, Z.L.; Kao, C.; Kini, A.; Mohamed-Hadley, A.; Thomas, K.; Vazquez, L.; Qiu, H.; Mentch, F.; Pellegrino, R.; Kim, C.; Connolly, J.; Glessner, J.; Hakonarson, H.; Pinto, D.; Merikangas, A.; Klei, L.; Vorstman, J.A.; Thompson, A.; Regan, R.; Pagnamenta, A.T.; Oliveira, B.; Magalhaes, T.R.; Gilbert, J.; Duketis, E.; De Jonge, M.V.; Cuccaro, M.; Correia, C.T.; Conroy, J.; Conceição, I.C.; Chiocchetti, A.G.; Casey, J.P.; Bolshakova, N.; Bacchelli, E.; Anney, R.; Zwaigenbaum, L.; Wittemeyer, K.; Wallace, S.; Engeland, Hv; Soorya, L.; Rogé, B.; Roberts, W.; Poustka, F.; Mouga, S.; Minshew, N.; McGrew, S.G.; Lord, C.; Leboyer, M.; Le Couteur, A.S.; Kolevzon, A.; Jacob, S.; Guter, S.; Green, J.; Green, A.; Gillberg, C.; Fernandez, B.A.; Duque, F.; Delorme, R.; Dawson, G.; Café, C.; Brennan, S.; Bourgeron, T.; Bolton, P.F.; Bölte, S.; Bernier, R.; Baird, G.; Bailey, A.J.; Anagnostou, E.; Almeida, J.; Wijsman, E.M.; Vieland, V.J.; Vicente, A.M.; Schellenberg, G.D.; Pericak-Vance, M.; Paterson, A.D.; Parr, J.R.; Oliveira, G.; Almeida, J.; Café, C.; Mouga, S.; Correia, C.; Nurnberger, J.I.; Monaco, A.P.; Maestrini, E.; Klauck, S.M.; Hakonarson, H.; Haines, J.L.; Geschwind, D.H.; Freitag, C.M.; Folstein, S.E.; Ennis, S.; Coon, H.; Battaglia, A.; Szatmari, P.; Sutcliffe, J.S.; Hallmayer, J.; Gill, M.; Cook, E.H.; Buxbaum, J.D.; Devlin, B.; Gallagher, L.; Betancur, C.; Scherer, S.W.Although multiple reports show that defective genetic networks underlie the aetiology of autism, few have translated into pharmacotherapeutic opportunities. Since drugs compete with endogenous small molecules for protein binding, many successful drugs target large gene families with multiple drug binding sites. Here we search for defective gene family interaction networks (GFINs) in 6,742 patients with the ASDs relative to 12,544 neurologically normal controls, to find potentially druggable genetic targets. We find significant enrichment of structural defects (P≤2.40E-09, 1.8-fold enrichment) in the metabotropic glutamate receptor (GRM) GFIN, previously observed to impact attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia. Also, the MXD-MYC-MAX network of genes, previously implicated in cancer, is significantly enriched (P≤3.83E-23, 2.5-fold enrichment), as is the calmodulin 1 (CALM1) gene interaction network (P≤4.16E-04, 14.4-fold enrichment), which regulates voltage-independent calcium-activated action potentials at the neuronal synapse. We find that multiple defective gene family interactions underlie autism, presenting new translational opportunities to explore for therapeutic interventions.