Interaction studies of a novel Co(II)-based potential chemotherapeutic agent with human serum albumin (HSA) employing biophysical techniques

Novel macrocyclic cobalt(II) complex C₃₆H₂₄N₈O₄S₄CoCl₂ with a butterfly topology was synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic (IR, ¹H, ¹³C NMR, EPR, UV-Vis, ESI-MS) and analytical methods. The complex exhibits distorted octahedral geometry around Co(II) metal ion, which was confirmed by EPR measurements with g_a, g_b, and g_c values (8.01, 2.20, and 1.66), respectively, and molar extinction coefficient ε = 58 M⁻¹cm⁻¹. The Interaction studies with human serum albumin (HSA) in phosphate buffer (0.1 M, pH 7.0) were studied by electronic absorption titration, fluorescence titration, circular dichroism, and cyclic voltammetry. Hyperchromism in fluorescence intensity indicates binding of complex with HSA near tryptophan residue in IIA subdomain leading to less polar microenvironment around tryptophan and more at tyrosine. The intrinsic binding constant K _b obtained from absorption spectral titrations was found to be 9.3 × 10⁴ M⁻¹, suggesting medium binding affinity of HSA with complex. CD spectrum indicates α-helical structure up to β-pleated secondary structure. CV data confirmed medium reversible binding with HSA. The binding of complex with HSA shows typical reversible mode of binding, which enables the delivery of drug candidate to the tissue enzymes and receptors in an efficient manner, and thereby affects the uptake of the drug.     

Perfluorinated chemicals: Differential toxicity,inhibition of aromatase activity and alteration of cellular lipids in human placental cells

The cytotoxicity of eight perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), namely, perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoA), perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS), perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) was assessed in the human placental choriocarcinoma cell line JEG-3. Only the long chain PFCs – PFOS, PFDoA, PFNA, PFOA – showed significant cytotoxicity in JEG-3 cells with EC50 values in the range of 107 to 647 μM. The observed cytotoxicity was to some extent related to a higher uptake of the longer chain PFCs by cells (PFDoA > PFOS ? PFNA > PFOA > PFHxA). Moreover, this work evidences a high potential of PFOS, PFOA and PFBS to act as aromatase inhibitors in placental cells with IC50s in the range of 57–80 μM, the inhibitory effect of PFBS being particularly important despite the rather low uptake of the compound by cells. Finally, exposure of JEG-3 cells to a mixture of the eight PFCs (0.6 μM each) led to a relative increase (up to 3.4-fold) of several lipid classes, including phosphatidylcholines (PCs), plasmalogen PC and lyso plasmalogen PC, which suggests an interference of PFCs with membrane lipids. Overall, this work highlights the ability of the PFC mixture to alter cellular lipid pattern at concentrations well below those that generate toxicity, and the potential of the short chain PFBS, often considered a safe substitute of PFOS, to significantly inhibit aromatase activity in placental cells.     

Drug-Biomacromolecule Interaction XII: Comparative binding study of sulfaethidole to bovine serum albumin by equilibrium dialysis,fluorescence probe technique,uv difference spectrophotometry and circular dichroism

Binding of sulfaethidole to bovine serum albumin was studied by equilibrium dialysis, fluorescence probe technique, uv difference spectrophotometry and circular dichroism. Equilibrium dialysis method enabled us to estimate the total number of drug binding sites of albumin molecule. For sulfaethidole, albumin had 6 primary and 40 secondary binding sites. The primary and secondary binding constants were 0.9×10⁵ M⁻¹ and 0.2×10⁶ M⁻¹, respectively. 1-Anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonate (ANS) and 2-(4′-hydroxylbenzeneazo)-benzoic acid (HBAB) were used as the fluorescence probe and the uv spectrophotometric probe, respectively. In fluorescence probe technique, results indicated that the number of higher affinity drug binding site of albumin was 1 and the number of lower affinity drug binding sites of albumin was 3, and the primary and secondary drug binding constants for bovine serum albumin were 2.15×10⁵ M⁻¹ and 1.04×10⁵ M⁻¹, respectively. In uv difference spectrophotometry, binding sites were 3 and binding constant was 1.88×10⁵ M⁻¹. The above results suggest that several different methods should be used in ompensation for insufficient information about drug binding to albumin molecule given by only one method.     

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) modify lung surfactant function and pro-inflammatory responses in human bronchial epithelial cells

The toxicity of some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been studied thoroughly, showing that systemic PFASs targets the lungs. However, regulators lack data to assess the impact of other PFASs on the lungs and alternative methods to test substances for lung toxicity are needed. We combined two in vitro models to assess toxicity to the respiratory system; i) a lung surfactant (LS) function assay to assess the acute inhalation toxicity potential, and ii) a cell model with human bronchial epithelial cells to study pro-inflammatory potential and modulation of inflammatory responses. We tested salts of four PFASs: perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), PFOS, and PFOA as well as the fluorotelomer 8:2 FTOH. The results show that PFHxS, PFOA and PFOS can inhibit LS function. High PFOS concentrations induced a pro-inflammatory response, measured as increased IL-1α/β release. Moderate concentrations of PFOS suppressed release of the chemokines CXCL8 and CXCL10, whereas both PFOS and PFOA stimulated the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β in immune stimulated human bronchial epithelial cells. These findings support the concern that some PFASs may increase the risk of acute lung toxicity and of airway infections.     

Interaction of 3′ -O-caffeoyl d-quinic acid with human serum albumin

The interaction of chlorogenic acid (CGA) with human serum albumin (HSA) was studied from the viewpoint of thermodynamics and mechanism of binding at pH 6.0. The association constants (K_a) for the HSA-CGA interaction at 10, 25 and 40° C were 6.0 × 10⁴, 9.0 × 10³ and 2 × 10⁴ M^?1, resulting in AG of -6.21, -5.80, -6.32 kcal/mol, respectively. These high K_a -values showed that the interaction between CGA and HSA is strong, endothermic and entropically driven. Binding of chlorogenic acid induces conformational change in HSA as indicated by quenching of fluorescence emission intensity along with a red shift in the emission maxima from 338 to 350 mm. This suggested the involvement of the lone tryptophan residue in the region of binding. Far-ultraviolet circular dichroic data showed a decrease in the α-helical content of HSA from 56 to 50% upon binding of CGA. These data are also supported by the decrease in the apparent Tm of HSA by 4°C upon binding of CGA causing destabilization of the HSA molecule. The kinetics of the interaction involves a single step in the binding, and the kinetic curve attains equilibrium within 180 ± 5 s. Data on caffeic acid (CA) and quinic acid (QA), which are the hydrolysis products of the bidentate CGA molecule, indicate that CA interacts more strongly than CGA. CA binds with an association constant of 8 × 10⁴ M^?1and with a maximum number of binding sites of four. Microcalorimetric investigation of the interaction of these ligands with HSA suggests that the strength of binding follows the order CA?CGA?>QA with a single class of binding sites. The effect of temperature on the binding of CGA to HSA showed that the interaction is dominated by hydrophobic forces and hydrogen bonding.     

Influence of quinidine on the binding of [3H]-ouabain and [3H]-digoxin by human lymphocytes

Summary To explore the molecular basis of the glycoside-quinidine interaction, the in vitro effect of quinidine on the binding of [³H]-ouabain and [³H]-digoxin to Na⁺ K⁺ ATPase receptors on human mononuclear cells was investigated. The maximum [³H]-ouabain binding capacity was 45.7±9.4×10³ molecules/cell in pure lymphocyte preparations (n=8) and 75.5±7.3×10³ molecules/cell in mixtures of mononuclear cells (n=8). These parameters were not influenced by 10⁻⁵ M quinidine. In eight equilibrium experiments with pure lymphocytes, the dissociation constant of [³H]-ouabain increased from 0.79±0.26×10⁻⁸ M in the absence of 10⁻⁵ M quinidine to 1.56±0.74×10⁻⁸ M in its presence (p<0.01), indicating that the affinity of the drug was decreased. Similar findings were observed using mixed mononuclear cells. In five uptake and release experiments, quinidine decreased the association rate constant of [³H]-ouabain from 3.15±0.36×10⁴ M⁻¹×s⁻¹ to 2.01±0.37×10⁴ M⁻¹ s⁻¹ (p<0.01), whereas the dissociation rate constant was not affected. A therapeutic concentration of quinidine does not affect the number of glycoside receptors on lymphocytes, but it does appear to reduce fractional receptor occupancy by both [³H]-ouabain and [³H]-digoxin at lower tracer concentrations. This finding is compatible with the clinical observation that quinidine reduces the distribution volume of digoxin.     

Perfluorinated chemicals,PFOS and PFOA,enhance the estrogenic effects of 17β‐estradiol in T47D human breast cancer cells

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are the two most popular surfactants among perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), with a wide range of uses. Growing evidence suggests that PFCs have the potential to interfere with estrogen homeostasis, posing a risk of endocrine‐disrupting effects. This in vitro study aimed to investigate the estrogenic effect of these compounds on T47D hormone‐dependent breast cancer cells. PFOS and PFOA (10^?12 to 10^?4 M) were not able to induce estrogen response element (ERE) activation in the ERE luciferase reporter assay. The ERE activation was induced when the cells were co‐incubated with PFOS (10^?10 to 10^?7 M) or PFOA (10^?9 to 10^?7 M) and 1 nM of 17β‐estradiol (E2). PFOS and PFOA did not modulate the expression of estrogen‐responsive genes, including progesterone (PR) and trefoil factor (pS2), but these compounds enhanced the effect of E2‐induced pS2 gene expression. Neither PFOS nor PFOA affected T47D cell viability at any of the tested concentrations. In contrast, co‐exposure with PFOS or PFOA and E2 resulted in an increase of E2‐induced cell viability, but no effect was found with 10 ng ml^?1 EGF co‐exposure. Both compounds also intensified E2‐dependent growth in the proliferation assay. ERK1/2 phosphorylation was increased by co‐exposure with PFOS or PFOA and E2, but not with EGF. Collectively, this study shows that PFOS and PFOA did not possess estrogenic activity, but they enhanced the effects of E2 on estrogen‐responsive gene expression, ERK1/2 activation and the growth of the hormone‐deprived T47D cells. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

In vitro evaluation of the effects of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) on IL‐2 production in human T‐cells

Perfluorinated compounds, such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), have been shown to alter various immune functions suggesting they are immunotoxic. This study assessed the effects of PFOS and PFOA on interleukin (IL)‐2 production in the human Jurkat T‐cell line and PFOS in healthy human primary T cells. Jurkat cells were stimulated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA)/phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), anti CD‐3/anti CD‐28, or anti CD‐3, and dosed with 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, 50, 75, or 100 µg ml^?1 PFOS or 0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, or 10 µg ml^?1 PFOA. Jurkat cells stimulated with PHA/PMA or anti CD‐3 exhibited decreased IL‐2 production beginning at 50 µg PFOS ml^?1 and 5 µg PFOS ml^?1 respectively, but stimulation with anti‐CD3/anti‐CD28 resulted in no changes compared with the control. Addition of the PPAR‐alpha antagonist GW6471 to PFOS‐dosed cells stimulated with PHA/PMA resulted in decreases in IL‐2 production starting at 50 µg PFOS ml^?1, which suggests PFOS affected T‐cell IL‐2 production via PPAR‐alpha‐independent mechanisms. Exposure to PFOA, PFOA + GW6471, or PFOS + PFOA in Jurkat cells resulted in no significant differences in IL‐2 production. In vitro dosing studies using healthy primary human CD4+ T cells were consistent with the Jurkat results. These data demonstrated that PFOA did not impact IL‐2 production, but PFOS suppressed IL‐2 production in both a human cell line and human primary cells at dose levels within the high end of the human exposure range. A decrease in IL‐2 production is characteristic of autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and should be further investigated. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Studies on reaction of amino acids and triplet thioxanthone derivatives by laser flash photolysis

Summary Excitation of the thioxanthone derivatives (TXs), 2, 4-diethylthioxanthone (DETX) and 2-(2,3-epoxypropyloxy) thioxanthone (ETX) in acetonitrile/water mixture solution (1:1, v/v) upon 355 nm laser flash produced the triplet of TXs (³TXs^*). Characteristic absorption spectra of ³TXs^*(590 nm) were recorded and rate constants of ³TXs^* quenched by O₂ and by its ground state were determined (9.8 × 10⁹ M⁻¹ s⁻¹, 7.3 × 10⁹ M⁻¹ s⁻¹ and 2.6 × 10⁸ M⁻¹ s⁻¹, 2.2 × 10⁸ M⁻¹ s⁻¹ respectively). The reactions of some amino acids oxidized by ³TXs^* were carried out. It has been found that tryptophan (Trp) and tyrosine (Tyr) can quench ³TXs^* via electron transfer process and related quenching rate constants were obtained. ³TXs^* induced protein damage was investigated using electrophoresis and significant levels of dimerisation were observed under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The influence of photo-sensitizer's structure on photo-oxidation of amino acid and protein has been discussed.     

Reversible binding of tolmetin,zomepirac, and their glucuronide conjugates to human serum albumin and plasma

Acyl glucuronides of drugs and bilirubin have been shown in the past decade to be reactive metabolites undergoing acyl migration and irreversible binding. The latter reaction has been hypothesized to be facilitated by or to proceed through the formation of a reversible complex. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the decreased binding seen in patients with compromised excretory function may be due to competition by elevated plasma concentrations of the glucuronides. In these reversible binding studies, we characterized the extent and the “site” of binding of tolmetin, zomepirac, their glucuronides and isomeric conjugates. We also examined the displacement between the parent drugs and their glucuronide conjugates using a rapid ultrafiltration method. Tolmetin exhibited three classes of binding sites with a primary association constant of 1.7×10⁶ M⁻¹ (K_dl=0.60 μM). The primary association constant of zomepirac (1.16×10⁶ M⁻¹, K_dl=0.86 μM) is similar to that of tolmetin. The β 1 and α/β3 glucuronides of both compounds bind to a lesser extent than their parent aglycones. The isomeric glucuronide conjugates of both compounds showed much stronger binding than the β/1 conjugates. Of the four glucuronides investigated, tolmetin glucuronide-α/β3 isomer was bound by fatty acid free human serum albumin with the highest affinity (4.6×10⁵ M⁻¹, K_d=2.22 μM). Protein binding of the parent drugs and conjugates were decreased significantly at pH 5.0. In displacement studies, except for salicylate and acetylsalicylate, drugs known to bind to Sites I and II as well as the digitoxin and tamoxifen binding sites had little inhibitory effect on the binding of tolmetin, zomepirac, and their glucuronide conjugates. Supported in part by Grant GM 36633 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.     

Suitability of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Daphnia similis</Emphasis> as an alternative organism in ecotoxicological tests: implications for metal toxicity

The acute toxicity of metals to Daphnia similis was determined and compared to other daphnid species to evaluate the suitability of this organism in ecotoxicology bioassays. To verify the performance D. similis in toxicity tests, we also investigated the effect of Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata at 1 × 10⁵ and 1 × 10⁶ cells ml⁻¹ on Cd and Cr acute toxicity to the cladoceran. Daphnid neonates were exposed to a range of chromium and cadmium concentrations in the absence and presence of the algal cells. Metal speciation calculations using MINEQL⁺ showed that total dissolved metal concentrations in zooplankton culture corresponded to 96.2% free Cd and 100% free Cr concentrations. Initial total dissolved metal concentrations were used for 48 h-LC₅₀ determination. LC₅₀ for D. similis was 5.15 × 10⁻⁷ mol l⁻¹ dissolved Cd without algal cells, whereas with 1 × 10⁵ cells ml⁻¹, it was significantly higher (7.15 × 10⁻⁷ mol l⁻¹ dissolved Cd). For Cr, the 48 h-LC₅₀ value of 9.17 × 10⁻⁷ mol l⁻¹ obtained for the cladoceran in tests with 1 × 10⁶ cells ml⁻¹ of P. subcapitata was also significantly higher than that obtained in tests without algal cells (5.28 × 10⁻⁷ mol l⁻¹ dissolved Cr). The presence of algal cells reduced the toxicity of metals to D. similis, as observed in other studies that investigated the effects of food on metal toxicity to standard cladocerans. Comparing our results to those of literature, we observed that D. similis is as sensitive to metals as other standardized Daphnia species and may serve as a potential test species in ecotoxicological evaluations.     

Carcinogenic potency of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) on Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cells

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is the degradation product of many fluoroderivatives and a widespread environmental contaminant. Its persistence, its long half-life in humans and its toxicity explain high concerns on human health side effects in future. PFOS is suspected to be a non-genotoxic carcinogen. In the present work, we assessed carcinogenic potential of PFOS by studying morphological transformation in Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cells; cell transformation of SHE cells is an in vitro assay recommended by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to detect carcinogens, genotoxic or not. Genotoxicity of PFOS and expression of PPARs genes in SHE cells were also measured. PFOS was shown to induce cell transformation (P < 0.05) at non-cytotoxic concentrations (0.2 and 2 μg/mL) (P ≤ 0.01). No genotoxic effect was recorded in the range of PFOS concentrations tested (2 × 10⁻⁴ to 50 μg/mL) using the single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay after 5 and 24 h of exposure. The expression of PPARs genes was measured by qPCR within the first 24 h and after 7 days of PFOS treatment. Results indicated an increased expression of ppar-β/δ isoform as early as 24 h. After 7 days, the increase of ppar-β/δ mRNA was significant at the concentrations inducing cell transformation (0.2 and 2 μg/mL), while overexpression of ppar-γ and ppar-α did not closely relate to effective concentrations. The results indicate that PFOS behave as a non-genotoxic carcinogen and impacted PPARs genes. Its cell transforming potential paralleled an increased expression of ppar-β/δ.     

The interaction of plant-growth regulators with serum albumin: Molecular modeling and spectroscopic methods

The affinity between two plant-growth regulators (PGRs) and human serum albumin (HSA) was investigated by molecular modeling techniques and spectroscopic methods. The results of molecular modeling simulations revealed that paclobutrazol (PAC) could bind on both site I and site II in HSA where the interaction was easier, while uniconazole (UNI) could not bind with HSA. Furthermore, the results of fluorescence spectroscopy, three-dimensional (3D) fluorescence spectroscopy and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy suggested that PAC had a strong ability to quench the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA. The binding affinity (K_b) and the amounts of binding sites (n) between PAC and HSA at 291 K were estimated as 2.37 × 10⁵ mol L⁻¹ and 1, respectively, which confirm that PAC mainly binds on site II of HSA. An apparent distance between the Trp214 and PAC was 4.41 nm. Additionally, the binding of PAC induced the conformational changes of disulfide bridges of HSA with the decrease of α-helix content. These studies provide more information on the potential toxicological effects and environmental risk assessment of PGRs.     

Exposure to perfluorobutane sulfonate and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid disrupts the production of angiogenesis factors and stress responses in human placental syncytiotrophoblast

Poly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have attracted widespread attention in recent years due to their bioaccumulation, toxicity, and ubiquitous nature. We and others have reported that maternal exposure to PFAS is associated with adverse birth outcomes due to altered placental functions. In this study, we investigated the effects of two major PFAS compounds, perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), on the regulation of the production of angiogenic factors and stress response in placental multinucleated syncytial BeWo cells using qRT-PCR and ELISA. Using this in vitro model, we showed that 1) PFOS or PFBS treatment did not seem to interrupt BeWo cell fusion through syncytins; 2) Exposure to PFOS at 10 μM decreased a potent angiogenic factor PlGF gene expression, which is implicated in preeclampsia; 3) Exposure to either PFOS or PFBS significantly decreased the production of CGB7 and hCG except hCG secretion in PFOS (10 nM) and PFBS (100 nM) treatment groups; 4) Exposure to PFOS (10 μM) increased the gene expression of the stress response molecules CRH while neither PFOS nor PFBS treatment affected a stress mitigation factor 11β-HSD2 expression. Our results demonstrate that exposure to PFOS or PFBS impacts several key pathways involved in placental cell functions. PFOS seems more potent than PFBS. These novel findings provide a potential explanation for the adverse reproductive complications associated with prenatal exposure to PFOS or PFBS, including preeclampsia and contribute to our knowledge of the reproductive toxicity of PFAS, specifically PFOS and PFBS.     

Change in life cycle parameters and feeding rate of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ceriodaphnia silvestrii</Emphasis> Daday (Crustacea,Cladocera) exposure to dietary copper

Changes in life cycle parameters (survival, growth, reproduction) and feeding rate of the tropical cladoceran Ceriodaphnia silvestrii as affected by Cu contaminated algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata were investigated. The dietary copper exposure ranged from 3 × 10⁻¹⁵ to 68 × 10⁻¹⁵ g Cu algal cell⁻¹. Low waterborne copper exposure (around 10⁻¹⁰ mol l⁻¹ free Cu²⁺ ions) was kept in the experiments. The results show an increasing toxic effect on C. silvestrii with copper increase in algal cells; at the highest copper exposure, all life cycle parameters were significantly affected. A concentration of 38 × 10⁻¹⁵ g Cu algal cell⁻¹ reduced egg hatching percentile and the number of neonates produced per female, but did not cause any statistically significant effect on animals survival nor to the number of eggs produced per female. The following sequence of events was observed from the lowest to the highest copper contamination: reproduction, feeding rate, body length and, at last, survival was affected. We conclude that algal cells are an important route of copper exposure and toxicity to cladocerans.     

Binding of a new multidrug resistance modulator,S9788, to human plasma proteins and erythrocytes

Summary The interactions of S9788 with human plasma proteins have been investigatedin vitro by an erythrocyte partitioning technique that allows an estimation of the plasma proteins and erythrocytes binding parameters. S9788 was 98% bound to plasma and blood. Lipoproteins bound S9788 with high affinities (binding constants of 0.645, 12.8 and 87.0×10⁶M⁻¹ for, HDL, LDL and VLDL, respectively) and accounted for more than 55% of the total circulating S9788. Albumin and alpha₁-acid glycoprotein also bound S9788 with lower binding constants of 0.022 and 0.245×10⁶ M⁻¹. S9788 was mainly distributed in the plasma blood compartment (75–80%) with blood-to-plasma concentrations ratio of 0.6 to 0.7. These results indicate that,in vivo, the fraction of blood S9788 available for tissue diffusion,i.e., the free drug fraction in blood, should depend on lipoprotein concentration in plasma.     

Pipping success and liver mRNA expression in chicken embryos exposed in ovo to C8 and C11 perfluorinated carboxylic acids and C10 perfluorinated sulfonate

Several perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants that can biomagnify in species at high trophic levels including wild birds. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) have been detected in wild birds and are known to reduce hatching success of laboratory-exposed chicken embryos at environmentally relevant concentrations. Limited toxicity data are available regarding avian exposure to PFCs of chain lengths greater than C₈, which are of increasing environmental relevance following the recent phase-out of PFOS and PFOA. In this study, linear PFOA, perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUdA) and perfluorodecane sulfonate (PFDS) were injected into the air cell of white leghorn chicken eggs (Gallus gallus domesticus) prior to incubation to determine effects on embryo pipping success. Furthermore, mRNA expression of key genes involved in pathways implicated in PFC toxicity was monitored in liver tissue. PFOA, PFUdA or PFDS had no effect on embryonic pipping success at concentrations up to 10 μg/g. All PFCs accumulated in the liver to concentrations greater than the initial whole-egg concentration as determined by HPLC/MS/MS. Hepatic accumulation was highest for PFOA (4.5 times) compared to PFUdA and PFDS. Cytochrome P450 1A4 and liver fatty acid binding protein mRNA expression increased after exposure to PFUdA but was only statistically significant at 10 μg/g; several orders of magnitude higher than levels found in wild bird eggs. Based on the present results for white leghorn chickens, current environmental concentrations of PFOA, PFUdA and PFDS are unlikely to affect the hatching success of wild birds.     

Binding of gefitinib, an inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase, to plasma proteins and blood cells: in vitro and in cancer patients

Summary Gefitinib exhibits wide inter-subject pharmacokinetic variability which may contribute to differences in treatment outcome. Unbound drug concentrations are believed to be more relevant to pharmacological and toxicological responses than total drug. Thus it is desirable to determine gefitinib binding in plasma and factors affecting this process. An equilibrium dialysis method using 96-well microdialysis plates was optimized and validated for determining the fraction unbound (fu) gefitinib in human plasma. Gefitinib binding in plasma from four different species and isolated protein solutions as well as drug partitioning in human blood cells were investigated. Unbound gefitinib plasma concentrations were measured in 21 cancer patients receiving daily oral gefitinib 250 mg or 500 mg. It was found that gefitinib was extensively bound in human rat mouse and dog plasma with mean fu values of 3.4%, 3.8%, 5.1% and 6.0% respectively. In isolated protein solutions approximately 90% and 78% of gefitinib was bound to human serum albumin (HSA) (40 mg/dL) and alpha1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) (1.4 mg/dL) with binding constants of 1.85 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ and 1.13 × 10⁵ M⁻¹ respectively. In whole blood 2.8% of gefitinib existed as the free drug while 79.4% and 17.8% was bound to plasma proteins and blood cells respectively. In plasma from cancer patients fu at pre-treatment varied 2.4-fold (mean 3.4 ± 0.6%; range 2.2–5.4%) and fu was constant over the 28-days of treatment (P > 0.05). Pre-treatment AAG concentration was negatively correlated with pre-treatment fu (R² = 0.28, P = 0.01). In conclusion gefitinib is highly protein bound (∼ 97%) in human plasma. Variable AAG concentrations observed in cancer patients may affect gefitinib fu with implications for inter-subject variation in drug toxicity and response.     

Comprehensive Study of the Interaction Between a Potential Antiprion Cationic Porphyrin and Human Prion Protein at Different pH by Using Multiple Spectroscopic Methods

Cationic porphyrins are potential antiprion drugs; however, the action mechanisms remain poorly understood. Herein, the interaction between a cationic porphyrin and recombinant human prion protein (rPrP^C) was comprehensively studied by using surface plasmon resonance (SPR), fluorescence, resonance light scattering (RLS), and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. The experimental results showed that the interaction between the cationic porphyrin and rPrP^C was pH dependent. The equilibrium association constants obtained from SPR spectroscopy were 4.12 × 10³ M^? 1 at pH 4.0, 1.74 × 10⁵ M^? 1 at pH 6.0, and 5.98 × 10⁵ M^? 1 at pH 7.0. The binding constants at 298 K obtained from the fluorescence quenching method were 7.286 × 10⁴ M^? 1 at pH 4.0 and 1.45 7 × 10⁵ M^? 1 at pH 6.0. The thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy change, entropy change, and free energy change were calculated, and the results indicated hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions played a major role in the binding reaction. The RLS experiment was performed to study the influence of porphyrin on the rPrP^C aggregation at different pH values. The CD experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of porphyrin on the secondary structure and thermal stability of rPrP^C. Finally, the comparison of SPR measurement and fluorescence quenching measurement was discussed.     

Comparative in vitro toxicity assessment of perfluorinated carboxylic acids

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are synthetic fluorinated compounds that are highly bioaccumulative and persistent organic pollutants. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), an eight‐carbon chain perfluorinated carboxylic acid, was used heavily for the production of fluoropolymers, but concerns have led to its replacement by shorter carbon chain homologues such as perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) and perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA). However, limited toxicity data exist for these substitutes. We evaluated the toxicity of PFOA, PFHxA and PFBA on a zebrafish liver cell line and investigated the effects of exposure on cell metabolism. Gross toxicity after 96 h of exposure was highest for PFOA and PFO^–, while PFHxA and PFBA exhibited lower toxicity. Although the structural similarity of these compounds to fatty acids suggests the possibility of interference with the transport and metabolism of lipids, we could not detect any differential expression of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor (ppar‐α , ‐β and ‐γ ), fabp3 and crot genes after 96 h exposure to up to 10 ppm of the test compounds. However, we observed localized lipid droplet accumulation only in PFBA‐exposed cells. To study the effects of these compounds on cell metabolism, we conducted fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy using naturally fluorescent biomarkers, NADH and FAD. The fluorescence lifetimes of NADH and FAD and the bound/free ratio of each of these coenzymes decreased in a dose‐ and carbon length‐dependent manner, suggesting disruption of cell metabolism. In sum, our study revealed that PFASs with shorter carbon chains are less toxic than PFOA, and that exposure to sublethal dosage of PFOA, PFHxA or PFBA affects cell metabolism. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.