Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is an environmental pollutant that induces multisystem toxicity in rodent Nepicastat models, including immunotoxicity and neurotoxicity. We hypothesized that developmental exposure
to PFOA may induce immunotoxicity similar to that observed in subsets of patients with neurodevelopmental disorders. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated subsets of T cells from spleens, serum markers of autoreactivity, and levels of MBP and T cell infiltration in the cerebella of adult offspring exposed to 0.02, 0.2, or 2 mg/kg of PFOA given to dams from gestation through lactation. Litter weights of offspring from dams exposed to 2 mg/kg of PFOA were reduced by 32.6%, on average, from postnatal day one (PND1) through Stattic purchase weaning (PND21). The percentage of splenic CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells in male and female offspring from dams exposed to 2 mg/kg of PFOA was reduced by 22% relative to the control percentage. Ex vivo co-cultures of splenic CD4+CD25+ T cells and CD4+CD25- T cells from dosed male offspring produced less IL-10 relative to control cells. Anti-ssDNA, a serum marker of autoreactivity, was decreased by 26%, on average, in female offspring from dams exposed to 0.02 and 2 mg/kg PFOA. No other endpoints were statistically different by dose. These data suggest that developmental PFOA exposure may impact T cell responses and may be a possible route to downstream effects on other
systems. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“A CHO cell line, previously genetically modified by the introduction of rat alpha 2,6-sialyltransferase cDNA, generated for the first time a human-like sialylated recombinant hTSH (hlsr-hTSH) more similar to the MEK162 in vivo native hormone, with 61% of alpha 2,3- and 39% of alpha 2,6-linked sialic acid residues. The best clone, when submitted to gene amplification with up to 8 mu M methotrexate, presented a secretion level of similar
to 2 mu g hTSH/10(6) cells/day, useful for product purification and characterization.
The relative molecular masses (M(r)) of the heterodimer and of the alpha- and beta-subunits of purified hlsr-hTSH, determined by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, and the relative hydrophobicities, determined by RP-HPLC, were not remarkably different from those presented by two r-hTSH preparations secreted by normal CHO cells. Some differences were observed, though, in N-glycan composition, with more tri- and much more tetra-sialylated structures in hlsr-hTSH. When analyzed via an in vivo bioassay based on hTSH-induced T(4) release in mice, hlsr-hTSH was shown to be equipotent (p > 0.05) with the commercial preparation of r-hTSH (Thyrogen), and 1.6-fold more potent than native hTSH (p < 0.001). (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“Purpose: Post-prostatectomy urinary incontinence can impact health related quality of life in men treated with radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer.