Project description:Pregnant mice (Dams) were exposed to cigarette smoke or filtered air. Lung tissue and RNA were harvested from the lungs of the Dams and their offspring and underwent transcriptomic analysis.
Project description:Analysis of primary human bronchial epithelial cells grown in air liquid interface, exposed in vitro to whole tobacco cigarette smoke (48 puffs, 48 minutes) and electronic cigarette aerosol (400 puffs, 200 minutes). Electronic cigarette exposures included two flavors (menthol, tobacco) both with, and without nicotine.
Project description:Background: How prenatal smoke exposure affects DNA methylation leading to atopic disorders remains to be addressed. Epigenetic biomarkers informative of prenatal smoke exposure and atopic disorders are wanting. Since most children suffering from atopic dermatitis (AD) continue to develop asthma later in life, we explored whether prenatal smoke exposure e induces DNA methylation and searched for predictive epigenetic biomarkers for smoke related atopic disorders. Methods: Methylation differences associated with smoke exposure were screened by Illumina methylation panel for children from the Taiwan birth panel study cohort initially. Information about development of atopic dermatitis (AD) and risk factors were collected. Cord blood cotinine levels were measured to represent prenatal smoke exposure. CpG loci that demonstrated a statistically significant difference in methylation were validated by methylation-dependent fragment separation (MDFS). Differential methylation in three genes (TSLP, GSTT1, and CYB5R3) was identified through the screen and their functions were investigated. Results: Among these, only thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) gene displayed significant difference in promoter methylation percentage after being validated by MDFS (p=0.029). TSLP gene was further investigated in a larger sample of 92 children from the cohort. Methylation status of the TSLP 5′-CpG island (CGI) was found to be significantly associated with prenatal smoke exposure (OR=3.59, 95%CI=1.49-8.64; cotinine level 0.10 ng/ml, sensitivity= 77%; specificity = 61%) and with AD (OR=4.77, 95%CI=1.47-15.53). The degree of TSLP 5′CGI methylation inversely correlated with TSLP protein expression levels (per unit: β=-6.69 ng/ml; 95% CIs, -12.80~-0.59; p=0.032). Conclusions: The effect of prenatal tobacco smoke exposure on the risk for AD may be mediated through DNA methylation. Cord blood methylated TSLP 5′CGI may be a potential epigenetic biomarker for environmentally-related atopic disorders. The buffy coat and plasma samples were separated and stored at −80°C. DNA (100 ng-500 ng) was extracted from cord white blood cells. Microarrays have been performed to investigate fourteen samples, which were classified as two groups according to cotinine exposure dosage (7 versus 7 : high exposure verses low exposure).
Project description:The prenatal and early postnatal period is highly sensitive to environmental exposures that may interfere with the developmental programming of the immune system leading to an altered disease risk in later life. To clarify the role of early influences in activation or exacerbation of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) we investigated the effect of maternal exposure during the prenatal and weaning period of DBA/1 mice to the plasticizer benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) on the development of RA in the offspring. Using a mild collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model, maternal BBP-exposure increased both the prevalence and the severity of RA in the progeny compared to un-exposed dams. Additionally, maternal BBP exposure led to elevated serum IgG1 and IgG2a level in the offspring and increased the IFN-? and IL-17 release from collagen-re-stimulated spleen cells. Transcriptome analysis of splenoytes isolated from 3-week-old pups before RA-induction revealed considerable changes in gene expression in the offspring from BBP-exposed dams. Among them were regulator of G-protein signaling 1 (rgs1), interleukin-7 receptor (il-7r) and CXC chemokine 4 (cxcr4), all genes that have previously been described as associated with RA pathology. In summary, our results demonstrate that perinatal exposure to BBP increases the susceptibility of the offspring to RA, probably via a phthalate-induced disturbed regulation of RA-relevant genes or signalling pathways.
Project description:Numerous health consequences of tobacco smoke exposure have been characterized, and the effects of smoking on traditional measures of male fertility are well described. However, a growing body of data indicates that pre‐conception paternal smoking also confers increased risk for a number of morbidities on offspring. The mechanism for this increased risk has not been elucidated, but it is likely mediated, at least in part, through epigenetic modifications transmitted through spermatozoa. In this study, we investigated the impact of cigarette smoke exposure on sperm DNA methylation patterns in 78 men who smoke and 78 never‐smokers using the Infinium Human Methylation 450 beadchip. We investigated two models of DNA methylation alterations: (i) consistently altered methylation at specific CpGs or within specific genomic regions and (ii) stochastic DNA methylation alterations manifest as increased variability in genome‐wide methylation patterns in men who smoke. We identified 141 significantly differentially methylated CpGs associated with smoking. In addition, we identified a trend toward increased variance in methylation patterns genome‐wide in sperm DNA from men who smoke compared with never‐smokers. These findings of widespread DNA methylation alterations are consistent with the broad range of offspring heath disparities associated with pre‐conception paternal smoke exposure and warrant further investigation to identify the specific mechanism by which sperm DNA methylation perturbation confers risk to offspring health and whether these changes can be transmitted to offspring and transgenerationally.
Project description:Like tobacco smoking, habitual marijuana smoking causes numerous adverse pulmonary effects. However, the mechanisms of action involved, especially as compared to tobacco smoke, are still unclear. To uncover putative modes of action, this study employed a toxicogenomics approach to compare the toxicological pathways perturbed following exposure to marijuana and tobacco smoke condensate in vitro. Condensates of mainstream smoke from hand-rolled tobacco and marijuana cigarettes were similarly prepared using identical smoking conditions. Murine lung epithelial cells were exposed to low, medium and high concentrations of the smoke condensates for 6 hr. RNA was extracted immediately or after a 4-hr recovery period and hybridized to mouse whole genome microarrays. Tobacco smoke condensate (TSC) exposure was associated with changes in xenobiotic metabolism, oxidative stress, inflammation, and DNA damage response. These same pathways were also significantly affected following marijuana smoke condensate (MSC) exposure. Although the effects of the condensates were largely similar, dose-response analysis indicates that the MSC is substantially more potent than TSC. In addition, steroid biosynthesis, apoptosis, and inflammation pathways were more significantly affected following MSC exposure, whereas m-phase cell cycle pathways were more significantly affected following TSC exposure. MSC exposure also appeared to elicit more severe oxidative stress than TSC exposure, which may account for the greater cytotoxicity of MSC. This study shows that in general, MSC impacts many of the same molecular processes as TSC. However, subtle pathway differences can provide insight into the differential toxicities of the two complex mixtures.
Project description:Wild type C57Bl/6J, Cyp1b1-null, and a substrain of Cyp1b1-null that are resistant to diet-induced obesity (Resistant Cyp1b1-null) timed mated pregnant dams were administered either a defined vitamin A sufficient diet or matched vitamin A deficient diet from embryonic day 4.5. Offspring liver gene expression was examined at birth (post-natal day 0) and at weaning (post-natal day 21).