Optimization of the HepaRG cell model for drug metabolism and toxicity studies.

International audienceThe HepaRG cell line is the first human cell line able to differentiate in vitro into mature hepatocyte-like cells. Our main objective within the framework of the EEC-LIINTOP project was to optimize the use of this cell line for drug metabolism and toxicity studies, especially after repeat treatments. The main results showed that differentiated HepaRG cells: (i) retained their drug metabolism capacity (major CYPs, phase 2 enzymes, transporters and nuclear receptors) and responsiveness to prototypical inducers at relatively stable levels for several weeks at confluence. The levels of several functions, including some CYPs such as CYP3A4, were dependent on the addition of dimethyl sulfoxide in the culture medium; (ii) sustained the different types of chemical-induced hepatotoxicity, including steatosis, phospholipidosis and cholestasis, after acute and/or repeat treatment with reference drugs. In particular, drug-induced vesicular steatosis was demonstrated in vitro for the first time. In conclusion, our results from the LIINTOP project, together with other studies reported concomitantly or more recently in the literature, support the conclusion that the metabolically competent human HepaRG cells represent a surrogate to primary human hepatocytes for investigating drug metabolism parameters and both acute and chronic effects of xenobiotics in human liver

Induction of vesicular steatosis by amiodarone and tetracycline is associated with up-regulation of lipogenic genes in HepaRG cells.

International audienceDrug-induced liver injury occurs in general after several weeks and is often unpredictable. It is characterized by a large spectrum of lesions that includes steatosis and phospholipidosis. Many drugs such as amiodarone and tetracycline have been reported to cause phospholipidosis and/or steatosis. In this study, acute and chronic hepatic effects of these two drugs were investigated using well-differentiated human hepatoma HepaRG cells. Accumulation of typical lipid droplets, labeled with Oil Red O, was observed in hepatocyte-like HepaRG cells after repeat exposure to either drug. Amiodarone caused the formation of additional intracytoplasmic vesicles that did not stain in all HepaRG cells. At the electron microscopic level, these vesicles appeared as typical lamellar bodies and were associated with an increase of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine. A dose-dependent induction of triglycerides (TG) was observed after repeat exposure to either amiodarone or tetracycline. Several genes known to be related to lipogenesis were induced after treatment by these two drugs. By contrast, opposite deregulation of some of these genes (FASN, SCD1, and THSRP) was observed in fat HepaRG cells induced by oleic acid overload, supporting the conclusion that different mechanisms were involved in the induction of steatosis by drugs and oleic acid. Moreover, several genes related to lipid droplet formation (ADFP, PLIN4) were up-regulated after exposure to both drugs and oleic acid. CONCLUSION: Our results show that amiodarone causes phospholipidosis after short-term treatment and, like tetracycline, induces vesicular steatosis after repeat exposure in HepaRG cells. These data represent the first demonstration that drugs can induce vesicular steatosis in vitro and show a direct relationship between TG accumulation and enhanced expression of lipogenic genes

Metabolomics Provides Novel Insights into the Potential Toxicity Associated with Heated Tobacco Products, Electronic Cigarettes, and Tobacco Cigarettes on Human Bronchial Epithelial BEAS-2B Cells

Smoking is an established risk factor for various pathologies including lung cancer. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) and heated tobacco products (HTPs) have appeared on the market in recent years, but their safety or, conversely, their toxicity has not yet been demonstrated. This study aimed to compare the metabolome of human lung epithelial cells exposed to emissions of e-cigs, HTPs, or 3R4F cigarettes in order to highlight potential early markers of toxicity. BEAS-2B cells were cultured at the air–liquid interface and exposed to short-term emissions from e-cigs set up at low or medium power, HTPs, or 3R4F cigarettes. Untargeted metabolomic analyses were performed using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Compared to unexposed cells, both 3R4F cigarette and HTP emissions affected the profiles of exogenous compounds, one of which is carcinogenic, as well as those of endogenous metabolites from various pathways including oxidative stress, energy metabolism, and lipid metabolism. However, these effects were observed at lower doses for cigarettes (2 and 4 puffs) than for HTPs (60 and 120 puffs). No difference was observed after e-cig exposure, regardless of the power conditions. These results suggest a lower acute toxicity of e-cig emissions compared to cigarettes and HTPs in BEAS-2B cells. The pathways deregulated by HTP emissions are also described to be altered in respiratory diseases, emphasizing that the toxicity of HTPs should not be underestimated

Preferential induction of the AhR gene battery in HepaRG cells after a single or repeated exposure to heterocyclic aromatic amines.

International audience2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) and 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) are two of the most common heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAA) produced during cooking of meat, fish and poultry. Both HAA produce different tumor profiles in rodents and are suspected to be carcinogenic in humans. In order to better understand the molecular basis of HAA toxicity, we have analyzed gene expression profiles in the metabolically competent human HepaRG cells using pangenomic oligonucleotide microarrays, after either a single (24-h) or a repeated (28-day) exposure to 10 μM PhIP or MeIQx. The most responsive genes to both HAA were downstream targets of the arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR): CYP1A1 and CYP1A2 after both time points and CYP1B1 and ALDH3A1 after 28 days. Accordingly, CYP1A1/1A2 induction in HAA-treated HepaRG cells was prevented by chemical inhibition or small interference RNA-mediated down-regulation of the AhR. Consistently, HAA induced activity of the CYP1A1 promoter, which contains a consensus AhR-related xenobiotic-responsive element (XRE). In addition, several other genes exhibited both time-dependent and compound-specific expression changes with, however, a smaller magnitude than previously reported for the prototypical AhR target genes. These changes concerned genes mainly related to cell growth and proliferation, apoptosis, and cancer. In conclusion, these results identify the AhR gene battery as the preferential target of PhIP and MeIQx in HepaRG cells and further support the hypothesis that intake of HAA in diet might increase human cancer risk

PPAR agonists reduce steatosis in oleic acid-overloaded HepaRG cells

International audienceAlthough non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is currently the most common form of chronic liver disease there is no pharmacological agent approved for its treatment. Since peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are closely associated with hepatic lipid metabolism, they seem to play important roles in NAFLD. However, the effects of PPAR agonists on steatosis that is a common pathology associated with NAFLD, remain largely controversial. In this study, the effects of various PPAR agonists, i.e. fenofibrate, bezafibrate, troglitazone, rosiglitazone, muraglitazar and tesaglitazar on oleic acid-induced steatotic HepaRG cells were investigated after a single 24-hour or 2-week repeat treatment. Lipid vesicles stained by Oil-Red O and triglycerides accumulation caused by oleic acid overload, were decreased, by up to 50%, while fatty acid oxidation was induced after 2-week co-treatment with PPAR agonists. The greatest effects on reduction of steatosis were obtained with the dual PPARα/γ agonist muraglitazar. Such improvement of steatosis was associated with up-regulation of genes related to fatty acid oxidation activity and down-regulation of many genes involved in lipogenesis. Moreover, modulation of expression of some nuclear receptor genes, such as FXR, LXRα and CAR, which are potent actors in the control of lipogenesis, was observed and might explain repression of de novo lipogenesis. CONCLUSION: Altogether, our in vitro data on steatotic HepaRG cells treated with PPAR agonists correlated well with clinical investigations, bringing a proof of concept that drug-induced reversal of steatosis in human can be evaluated in in vitro before conducting long-term and costly in vivo studies in animals and patients

Chemical characterization and in vitro toxicology study of Heated Tobacco Product and electronic cigarette aerosols: comparison with conventional cigarette smoke

National audienc

Chemical characterization and in vitro toxicology study of Heated Tobacco Product and electronic cigarette aerosols: comparison with conventional cigarette smoke

National audienc

Chronic exposure to low doses of pharmaceuticals disturbs the hepatic expression of circadian genes in lean and obese mice.

International audienceDrinking water can be contaminated with pharmaceuticals. However, it is uncertain whether this contamination can be harmful for the liver, especially during obesity. Hence, the goal of our study was to determine whether chronic exposure to low doses of pharmaceuticals could have deleterious effects on livers of lean and obese mice. To this end, lean and ob/ob male mice were treated for 4 months with a mixture of 11 drugs provided in drinking water at concentrations ranging from 10 to 10⁶ ng/l. At the end of the treatment, some liver and plasma abnormalities were observed in ob/ob mice treated with the cocktail containing 10⁶ ng/l of each drug. For this dosage, a gene expression analysis by microarray showed altered expression of circadian genes (e.g. Bmal1, Dbp, Cry1) in lean and obese mice. RT-qPCR analyses carried out in all groups of animals confirmed that expression of 8 different circadian genes was modified in a dose-dependent manner. For some genes, a significant modification was observed for dosages as low as 10²-10³ ng/l. Drug mixture and obesity presented an additive effect on circadian gene expression. These data were validated in an independent study performed in female mice. Thus, our study showed that chronic exposure to trace pharmaceuticals disturbed hepatic expression of circadian genes, particularly in obese mice. Because some of the 11 drugs can be found in drinking water at such concentrations (e.g. acetaminophen, carbamazepine, ibuprofen) our data could be relevant in environmental toxicology, especially for obese individuals exposed to these contaminants

Differential toxicity of heterocyclic aromatic amines and their mixture in metabolically competent HepaRG cells.

Human exposure to heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAA) usually occurs through mixtures rather than individual compounds. However, the toxic effects and related mechanisms of co-exposure to HAA in humans remain unknown. We compared the effects of two of the most common HAA, 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) and 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx), individually or in combination, in the metabolically competent human hepatoma HepaRG cells. Various endpoints were measured including cytotoxicity, apoptosis, oxidative stress and DNA damage by the comet assay. Moreover, the effects of PhIP and/or MeIQx on mRNA expression and activities of enzymes involved in their activation and detoxification pathways were evaluated. After a 24h treatment, PhIP and MeIQx, individually and in combination, exerted differential effects on apoptosis, oxidative stress, DNA damage and cytochrome P450 (CYP) activities. Only PhIP induced DNA damage. It was also a stronger inducer of CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 expression and activity than MeIQx. In contrast, only MeIQx exposure resulted in a significant induction of CYP1A2 activity. The combination of PhIP with MeIQx induced an oxidative stress and showed synergistic effects on apoptosis. However, PhIP-induced genotoxicity was abolished by a co-exposure with MeIQx. Such an inhibitory effect could be explained by a significant decrease in CYP1A2 activity which is responsible for PhIP genotoxicity. Our findings highlight the need to investigate interactions between HAA when assessing risks for human health and provide new insights in the mechanisms of interaction between PhIP and MeIQx