Toxicology and applied pharmacology
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Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. · Jul 2004
ReviewCholinergic systems in brain development and disruption by neurotoxicants: nicotine, environmental tobacco smoke, organophosphates.
Acetylcholine and other neurotransmitters play unique trophic roles in brain development. Accordingly, drugs and environmental toxicants that promote or interfere with neurotransmitter function evoke neurodevelopmental abnormalities by disrupting the timing or intensity of neurotrophic actions. The current review discusses three exposure scenarios involving acetylcholine systems: nicotine from maternal smoking during pregnancy, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), and exposure to the organophosphate insecticide, chlorpyrifos (CPF). ⋯ However, for chlorpyrifos, additional noncholinergic mechanisms appear to be critical in establishing the period of developmental vulnerability, the sites and type of neural damage, and the eventual outcome. New findings indicate that developmental neurotoxicity extends to late phases of brain maturation including adolescence. Novel in vitro and in vivo exposure models are being developed to uncover heretofore unsuspected mechanisms and targets for developmental neurotoxicants.
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Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. · Jul 2004
Differential induction of heme oxygenase and other stress proteins in cultured hippocampal astrocytes and neurons by inorganic lead.
We examined the effects of exposure to inorganic lead (Pb2+) on the induction of stress proteins in cultured hippocampal neurons and astrocytes, with particular emphasis on the induction of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). In radiolabeled neuronal cultures, Pb2+ exposure had no significant effect on the synthesis of any protein at any concentration (up to 250 microM) or duration of exposure (up to 4 days). In radiolabeled astrocyte cultures, however, Pb2+ exposure (100 nM to 100 microM; 1-4 days) increased synthesis of proteins with approximate molecular weights of 23, 32, 45, 57, 72, and 90 kDa. ⋯ Lead exposure causes oxidative stress in many cell types, including astrocytes. Induction of HO-1 by Pb2+ is reduced by the hydroxyl radical scavengers dimethylthiourea (DMTU) and mannitol, but not by inhibitors of calmodulin, calmodulin-dependent protein kinases, protein kinase C, or extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK). Therefore, we conclude that oxidative stress is an important mechanism by which Pb2+ induces HO-1 synthesis in astrocytes.