Primerjava toksičnosti etanola in acetaldehida za podganje astrocite v primarni kulturi

This study compared the effects of toxicity of ethanol and its first metabolite acetaldehyde in rat astrocytes through cell viability and cell proliferation. The cells were treated with different concentrations of ethanol in the presence or absence of a catalase inhibitor 2-amino-1,2,4 triazole (AMT) or with different concentrations of acetaldehyde. Cell viability was assessed using the trypan blue test. Cell proliferation was assessed after 24 hours and after seven days of exposure to either ethanol or acetaldehyde. We showed that both ethanol and acetaldehyde decreased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. In proliferation studies, after seven days of exposure to either ethanol or acetaldehyde, we observed a significant dose-dependent decrease in cell number. The protein content study showed biphasic dose-response curves, after 24 hours and seven days of exposure to either ethanol or acetaldehyde. Co-incubation in the presence of AMT significantly reduced the inhibitory effect of ethanol on cell proliferation. We concluded that long-term exposure of astrocytes to ethanol is more toxic than acute exposure. Acetaldehyde is a much more potent toxin than ethanol, and at least a part of ethanol toxicity is due to ethanol’s first metabolite acetaldehyde.V študiji smo primerjali toksičnost etanola in njegovega prvega metabolita acetaldehida za podganje astrocite z določitvijo celične viabilnosti in proliferacije. Celične kulture smo tretirali z različnimi koncentracijami etanola, etanola v prisotnosti inhibitorja katalaze 2-amino-1,2,4 triazol-a (AMT) ali z različnimi koncentracijami acetaldehida. Celično viabilnost smo vrednotili s pomočjo testa s tripanskim modrilom, celično proliferacijo pa s štetjem celic in določitvijo koncentracije proteinov po 24-urni, kot tudi 7-dnevni izpostavljenosti. S študijo smo pokazali, da tako etanol kot tudi acetaldehid v odvisnosti od njune koncentracije zmanjšata celično viabilnost. V študiji proliferacije sta etanol in acetaldehid, v odvisnosti od njunih koncentracij, značilno zmanjšala število celic po 7-dnevni izpostavljenosti. Pri ugotavljanju vsebnosti proteinov smo dobili bifazno krivuljo tako po 24-urni, kot tudi po 7-dnevni izpostavljenosti različnim koncentracijam etanola oziroma acetaldehida. Prisotnost AMT je signifi kantno zmanjšala učinek etanola na celično proliferacijo. Zaključimo lahko, da je dolgotrajna izpostavljenost astrocitov etanolu bolj toksična kot akutna. Acetaldehid je močnejši toksin kot etanol in vsaj del toksičnosti etanola je posledica delovanja njegovega prvega metabolita, acetaldehida

Mouse models of breast cancer metastasis

Metastatic spread of cancer cells is the main cause of death of breast cancer patients, and elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying this process is a major focus in cancer research. The identification of appropriate therapeutic targets and proof-of-concept experimentation involves an increasing number of experimental mouse models, including spontaneous and chemically induced carcinogenesis, tumor transplantation, and transgenic and/or knockout mice. Here we give a progress report on how mouse models have contributed to our understanding of the molecular processes underlying breast cancer metastasis and on how such experimentation can open new avenues to the development of innovative cancer therapy