Empirische Religionspädagogik und Praktische Theologie : Metareflexionen, innovative Forschungsmethoden und aktuelle Befunde aus Projekten der Sektion „Empirische Religionspädagogik“ der AKRK

Der Sammelband stellt in insgesamt 20 Beiträgen Metareflexionen, innovative Forschungsmethoden und aktuelle Befunde aus Projekten der AKRK-Sektion "Empirische Religionspädagogik" vor. 19 Autorinnen und Autoren aus verschiedenen Ländern und Sparten der Theologie haben hieran mitgewirkt, auch um weitere empirisch fundierte Forschungsarbeiten anzuregen

Mapping the cellular response to electron transport chain inhibitors reveals selective signaling networks triggered by mitochondrial perturbation

Mitochondrial perturbation is a key event in chemical-induced organ toxicities that is incompletely understood. Here, we studied how electron transport chain (ETC) complex I, II, or III (CI, CII and CIII) inhibitors affect mitochondrial functionality, stress response activation, and cell viability using a combination of high-content imaging and TempO-Seq in HepG2 hepatocyte cells. CI and CIII inhibitors perturbed mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and mitochondrial and cellular ATP levels in a concentration- and time-dependent fashion and, under conditions preventing a switch to glycolysis attenuated cell viability, whereas CII inhibitors had no effect. TempO-Seq analysis of changes in mRNA expression pointed to a shared cellular response to CI and CIII inhibition. First, to define specific ETC inhibition responses, a gene set responsive toward ETC inhibition (and not to genotoxic, oxidative, or endoplasmic reticulum stress) was identified using targeted TempO-Seq in HepG2. Silencing of one of these genes, NOS3, exacerbated the impact of CI and CIII inhibitors on cell viability, indicating its functional implication in cellular responses to mitochondrial stress. Then by monitoring dynamic responses to ETC inhibition using a HepG2 GFP reporter panel for different classes of stress response pathways and applying pathway and gene network analysis to TempO-Seq data, we looked for downstream cellular events of ETC inhibition and identified the amino acid response (AAR) as being triggered in HepG2 by ETC inhibition. Through in silico approaches we provide evidence indicating that a similar AAR is associated with exposure to mitochondrial toxicants in primary human hepatocytes. Altogether, we (i) unravel quantitative, time- and concentration-resolved cellular responses to mitochondrial perturbation, (ii) identify a gene set associated with adaptation to exposure to active ETC inhibitors, and (iii) show that ER stress and an AAR accompany ETC inhibition in HepG2 and primary hepatocytes.publishe

Mapping the cellular response to electron transport chain inhibitors reveals selective signaling networks triggered by mitochondrial perturbation

Mitochondrial perturbation is a key event in chemical-induced organ toxicities that is incompletely understood. Here, we studied how electron transport chain (ETC) complex I, II, or III (CI, CII and CIII) inhibitors affect mitochondrial functionality, stress response activation, and cell viability using a combination of high-content imaging and TempO-Seq in HepG2 hepatocyte cells. CI and CIII inhibitors perturbed mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and mitochondrial and cellular ATP levels in a concentration- and time-dependent fashion and, under conditions preventing a switch to glycolysis attenuated cell viability, whereas CII inhibitors had no effect. TempO-Seq analysis of changes in mRNA expression pointed to a shared cellular response to CI and CIII inhibition. First, to define specific ETC inhibition responses, a gene set responsive toward ETC inhibition (and not to genotoxic, oxidative, or endoplasmic reticulum stress) was identified using targeted TempO-Seq in HepG2. Silencing of one of these genes, NOS3, exacerbated the impact of CI and CIII inhibitors on cell viability, indicating its functional implication in cellular responses to mitochondrial stress. Then by monitoring dynamic responses to ETC inhibition using a HepG2 GFP reporter panel for different classes of stress response pathways and applying pathway and gene network analysis to TempO-Seq data, we looked for downstream cellular events of ETC inhibition and identified the amino acid response (AAR) as being triggered in HepG2 by ETC inhibition. Through in silico approaches we provide evidence indicating that a similar AAR is associated with exposure to mitochondrial toxicants in primary human hepatocytes. Altogether, we (i) unravel quantitative, time- and concentration-resolved cellular responses to mitochondrial perturbation, (ii) identify a gene set associated with adaptation to exposure to active ETC inhibitors, and (iii) show that ER stress and an AAR accompany ETC inhibition in HepG2 and primary hepatocytes

The in vitro assessment of the toxicity of volatile, oxidisable, redox-cycling compounds: phenols as an example

Phenols are regarded as highly toxic chemicals. Their effects are difficult to study in in vitro systems because of their ambiguous fate (degradation, auto-oxidation and volatility). In the course of in vitro studies of a series of redox-cycling phenols, we found evidences of cross-contamination in several in vitro high-throughput test systems, in particular by trimethylbenzene-1, 4-diol/trimethylhydroquinone (TMHQ) and 2,6-di-tertbutyl-4-ethylphenol (DTBEP), and investigated in detail the physicochemical basis for such phenomenon and how to prevent it. TMHQ has fast degradation kinetics followed by significant diffusion rates of the resulting quinone to adjacent wells, other degradation products being able to air-diffuse as well. DTBEP showed lower degradation kinetics, but a higher diffusion rate. In both cases the in vitro toxicity was underestimated because of a decrease in concentration, in addition to cross-contamination to neighbouring wells. We identified four degradation products for TMHQ and five for DTBEP indicating that the current effects measured on cells are not only attributable to the parent phenolic compound. To overcome these drawbacks, we investigated in detail the physicochemical changes occurring in the course of the incubation and made use of gas-permeable and non-permeable plastic seals to prevent it. Diffusion was greatly prevented by the use of both plastic seals, as revealed by GC–MS analysis. Gas non-permeable plastic seals, reduced to a minimum compounds diffusion as well oxidation and did not affect the biological performance of cultured cells. Hence, no toxicological cross-contamination was observed in neighbouring wells, thus allowing a more reliable in vitro assessment of phenol-induced toxicity.The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation 493 program under Grant Agreement No 681002 (EU-ToxRisk). We are indebted to CIBEREHD (ISCIII), for supporting our research program on hepatotoxicity of xenobiotics. L.T. was supported by the Miguel 494 Servet I Program financed by the Institute of Health Carlos III (Plan Estatal de I+D+i 2013-2016) 495 and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund "A way to achieve Europe" (FEDER) 496 through grant CP16/00097. TMS acknowledges her personal predoctoral grant (FI18/00260, 497 ISCIII, Spain)

Identifying multiscale translational safety biomarkers using a network-based systems approach

Summary: Animal testing is the current standard for drug and chemicals safety assessment, but hazards translation to human is uncertain. Human in vitro models can address the species translation but might not replicate in vivo complexity. Herein, we propose a network-based method addressing these translational multiscale problems that derives in vivo liver injury biomarkers applicable to in vitro human early safety screening. We applied weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) to a large rat liver transcriptomic dataset to obtain co-regulated gene clusters (modules). We identified modules statistically associated with liver pathologies, including a module enriched for ATF4-regulated genes as associated with the occurrence of hepatocellular single-cell necrosis, and as preserved in human liver in vitro models. Within the module, we identified TRIB3 and MTHFD2 as a novel candidate stress biomarkers, and developed and used BAC-eGFPHepG2 reporters in a compound screening, identifying compounds showing ATF4-dependent stress response and potential early safety signals