Ethanol differentially affects metabolic and mitotic processes in chick embryonic cells

Alcohol in Psoriasis-From Bench to Bedside

Alcohol affects the symptoms, compliance and comorbidities as well as the safety and efficacy of treatments in psoriatic patients. In this review, we aim to summarize and link clinical observations with a molecular background, such as signaling pathways at the cellular level and genetic variations, and to provide an overview of how this knowledge could influence our treatment selection and patient management.

The avian embryo as a model for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) remains a leading preventable cause of structural birth defects and permanent neurodevelopmental disability. The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a powerful embryological research model, and was possibly the first in which the teratogenicity of alcohol was demonstrated. Pharmacologically relevant exposure to alcohol in the range of 20-70 mmol/L (20-80 mg/egg) disrupt the growth of chicken embryos, morphogenesis, and behavior, and the resulting phenotypes strongly parallel those of mammalian models. The avian embryo's direct accessibility has enabled novel insights into the teratogenic mechanisms of alcohol. These include the contribution of IGF1 signaling to growth suppression, the altered flow dynamics that reshape valvuloseptal morphogenesis and mediate its cardiac teratogenicity, and the suppression of Wnt and Shh signals thereby disrupting the migration, expansion, and survival of the neural crest, and underlie its characteristic craniofacial deficits. The genetic diversity within commercial avian strains has enabled the identification of unique loci, such as ribosome biogenesis, that modify vulnerability to alcohol. This venerable research model is equally relevant for the future, as the application of technological advances including CRISPR, optogenetics, and biophotonics to the embryo's ready accessibility creates a unique model in which investigators can manipulate and monitor the embryo in real-time to investigate the effect of alcohol on cell fate.

Can mode of action predict mixture toxicity for risk assessment?

Recent regulatory guidance for mixture risk assessments and for regulating pesticide chemicals recommends using information about the "mode" or "mechanism" of action of individual chemicals to predict dose response characteristics of mixtures. Dose addition is assumed for mixtures of chemicals that have similar mechanisms and response addition for those with dissimilar mechanisms. Three different sets of criteria have been formulated to guide the selection of an appropriate data set for characterizing a chemical's mode of action, but the sufficiency of those criteria to predict dose addition for a mixture has not been validated experimentally. Several examples from the pharmacological and toxicological literature challenge the premise that dose response characteristics of a mixture can be predicted from the modes of action of its components. Detoxification pathways may need to be understood before dose addition in the observable effect range can be extrapolated to mixture concentrations below the no observable effect levels of the mixture components. Because elucidating discreet mechanisms of action may be possible only for chemicals that exhibit a high degree of biological specificity and dose sensitivity, practical limitations on the approach must be defined. To reduce the large uncertainties inherent in the recommended approach, future research should be focused on defining the mechanistic features that predict dose additive toxicity in mixtures. A detailed characterization of pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and slope of dose response curves may be necessary to evaluate whether the toxicity of a mixture can be predicted by the mode of action of its component chemicals.

Ethanol-induced decrease of developmental PKC isoform expression in the embryonic chick brain

Prenatal ethanol exposure can cause a number of physiological deficits known as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Because protein kinase C (PKC) regulates the cell cycle and has been linked to growth, we examined the effect of ethanol on PKC isoform expression in a developing chick brain. Ethanol exposure causes decreased head weight in chickens at day 5 in a dose-dependent manner and a decreased brain weight at days 7 and 10 at an ethanol concentration of 1.0 g/kg. Antibodies specific for PKC-alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, iota, lambda, mu and zeta were used to examine ethanol's effect on PKC expression in the growth-suppressed brain at days 5, 7 and 10 of development. Only four of the PKC isoforms tested are expressed in the chick brain prior to day 10: alpha, gamma, epsilon, and iota. PKC-alpha, gamma, and epsilon are developmentally increased during the time period studied. Ethanol causes a decreased expression of PKC-alpha on days 5, 7 and 10 and a decreased expression of PKC-gamma on days 7 and 10. Ethanol causes a decreased expression of PKC-epsilon only on day 7. PKC-iota expression is unchanged over the developmental times studied and ethanol exposure has no effect on PKC-iota expression. These data suggest that only specific PKC isoforms are developmentally expressed in the embryonic chick brain and that ethanol may inhibit the expression of those PKC isoforms that are developmentally regulated.

Increased intracellular localization of brain GLUT-1 transporter in response to ethanol during chick embryogenesis

Fetal exposure to ethanol is associated with growth retardation of the developing central nervous system. We have previously described a chick model to study the molecular mechanism of ethanol effects on glucose metabolism in ovo. Total membrane fractions were prepared from day 4, day 5, and day 7 chick embryos exposed in ovo to ethanol or to vehicle. By Western blotting analysis, ethanol exposure caused a mean 7- to 10-fold increase in total GLUT-1 and a 2-fold increase in total GLUT-3. However, glucose uptake by ethanol-treated cells increased by only 10%. Analysis of isolated plasma (PM) and intracellular (IM) membranes from day 5 cranial tissue revealed a mean 25% decrease in GLUT-1 in the PM and a 66% increase in the IM in the ethanol group vs. control. The amount of PM GLUT-3 was unchanged but that of IM GLUT-3 was significantly decreased. The data suggest that GLUT-3 cell surface expression may be resistant to the suppressive effects of ethanol in the developing brain of ethanol-treated embryos. The overall increase in GLUT-1 may reflect a deregulation of the transporter induced by ethanol exposure. The increased IM localization and decreased amount of PM GLUT-1 may be a mechanism used by the ethanol-treated cell to maintain normal glucose uptake despite the overall increased level of the transporter.

Cytotoxicity of short-chain alcohols

Ethanol and other short-chain alcohols elicit a number of cellular responses that are potentially cytotoxic and, to some extent, independent of cell type. Aberrations in phospholipid and fatty acid metabolism, changes in the cellular redox state, disruptions of the energy state, and increased production of reactive oxygen metabolites have been implicated in cellular damage resulting from acute or chronic exposure to short-chain alcohols. Resulting disruptions of intracellular signaling cascades through interference with the synthesis of phosphatidic acid, decreases in phosphorylation potential and lipid peroxidation are mechanisms by which solvent alcohols can affect the rate of cell proliferation and, consequently, cell number. Nonoxidative metabolism of short-chain alcohols, including phospholipase D-mediated synthesis of alcohol phospholipids, and the synthesis of fatty acid alcohol esters are additional mechanisms by which alcohols can affect membrane structure and compromise cell function.

Role of PKC and tyrosine kinase in ethanol-mediated inhibition of LPS-inducible nitric oxide synthase

Ethanol increases human and animal susceptibility to opportunistic lung infections in part by suppression of endotoxin (LPS) and bacteria-mediated upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in alveolar macrophages (AM). LPS and cytokine-induced NOS mRNA are dependent on NF-kappaB/Rel (NFkappaB) and Activator Protein-1 (AP-1), which are regulated in turn by protein kinase C and tyrosine kinase-dependent phosphorylation. ETOH does not directly inhibit NFkappaB or AP-1, in vivo, but rather inhibits LPS-induced activation of the MEKK/MAP kinase system and inhibition of inhibitory protein IkappaBalpha required for formation of AP-1 and NFkappaB, respectively. in AM. Both transcription factors are involved iNOS mRNA transcription. LPS-induced upregulation of MEKK/MAP tyrosine kinase upregulates NADPH oxidase activity and oxygen free radical formation required for activation of NFkappaB and AP-1 and phosphorylation of IkappaBalpha. LPS downregulates endogenous calcium-sensitive PKC isozymes (PKCdelta), which repress iNOS mRNA expression. ETOH inhibits LPS-induced upregulation of iNOS mRNA by preventing its ability to decrease PKCdelta and upregulate tyrosine kinase-mediated phosphorylation. This effect of ETOH is prevented by inhibitors of PKC and tyrosine kinase. The data support the hypothesis that ETOH inhibits LPS-induced upregulation of iNOS mRNA by interfering with the phosphorylation processes involved in activation of the nuclear transcription factors NFkappaB and AP-1.