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Increased Risk Of Childhood Brain Tumors Among Children Whose Parents Had Farm-Related Pesticide Exposures During Pregnancy, Brian Kunkle, S. Bae, K. P. Singh, Deodutta Roy

Environmental Health Sciences

Malignant brain tumors rank second in both incidence and mortality by cancer in children, and they are the leading cause of cancer death in children. Relatively little is known about the etiology of childhood brain tumor (CBT). While there are several studies which link pesticide exposure to increased risk of CBT, findings have been inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis on 15 published epidemiological studies to test that in utero exposure to pesticides may be involved in the development of brain cancer in children. Meta-analysis was performed using the general variance-based method and homogeneity was tested by means of the Q …

Redox Signalling To Nuclear Regulatory Proteins By Reactive Oxygen Species Contributes To Oestrogen-Induced Growth Of Breast Cancer Cells, Victor Okoh, N. A. Garba, Jayanta K. Das, Alok Deoraj, K. P. Singh, S. Sarkar, Quentin Felty, Changwon Yoo, R. M. Jackson, Deodutta Roy

Environmental Health Sciences

Background:

17β-Oestradiol (E2)-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been implicated in regulating the growth of breast cancer cells. However, the underlying mechanism of this is not clear. Here we show how ROS through a novel redox signalling pathway involving nuclear respiratory factor-1 (NRF-1) and p27 contribute to E2-induced growth of MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

Methods:

Chromatin immunoprecipitation, qPCR, mass spectrometry, redox western blot, colony formation, cell proliferation, ROS assay, and immunofluorescence microscopy were used to study the role of NRF-1.

Results:

The major novel finding of this study is the demonstration of oxidative modification of phosphatases PTEN and …

Pcb153-Induced Overexpression Of Id3 Contributes To The Development Of Microvascular Lesions, Jayanta K. Das, Quentin Felty

Environmental Health Sciences

Microvascular lesions resulting from endothelial cell dysfunction are produced in the brain, lung, kidney, and retina of patients of complex chronic diseases. The environmental and molecular risk factors which may contribute in the development of microvascular damage are unclear. The mechanism(s) responsible for initiating microvascular damage remain poorly defined, although several inciting factors have been proposed, including environmental toxicants-induced oxidative stress. Enhanced neovascularization has been implicated in either the development or progression of proliferative vascular lesions. Here, we present evidence for how PCB-induced ROS may contribute to the development of a neovascular phenotype with the aim of elucidating the role …