| 1. |
- Hamers, Timo, et al.
(författare)
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Biotransformation of brominated flame retardants into potentially endocrine-disrupting metabolites, with special attention to 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47).
- 2008
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Ingår i: Mol Nutr Food Res. - 1613-4125. ; 52:2, s. 284-298
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, the endocrine-disrupting (ED) potency of metabolites from brominated flame retardants (BFRs) was determined. Metabolites were obtained by incubating single-parent compound BFRs with phenobarbital-induced rat liver microsomes. Incubation extracts were tested in seven in vitro bioassays for their potency to compete with thyroxine for binding to transthyretin (TTR), to inhibit estradiol-sulfotransferase (E2SULT), to interact with thyroid hormone-mediated cell proliferation, and to (in-)activate the androgen, progesterone, estrogen, or aryl hydrocarbon receptor. For most BFRs, TTR-binding potencies, and to a lesser extent E2SULT-inhibiting potencies, significantly increased after biotransformation. Microsomal incubation had less pronounced effects on other ED modes of action, due to low biotransformation efficiency and background activities determined in control incubations without BFRs. Moreover, cell-based bioassays suffered from cytotoxicity from metabolites of lower-brominated polybrominated diphenyl ethers. For the environmentally relevant 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47), six hydroxylated metabolites were identified. Individual metabolites had TTR-binding and E2SULT-inhibiting potencies 160-1600 and 2.2-220 times higher than BDE-47 itself, whereas their combined potencies in a realistic mixture were well predicted via concentration addition. In combination with other environmentally relevant hydroxylated organohalogens acting on TTR-binding and E2SULT inhibition, internal exposure to BFR metabolites may significantly contribute to the overall risk of endocrine disruption.
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| 2. |
- Meijer, Lisethe, et al.
(författare)
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Serum concentrations of neutral and phenolic organohalogens in pregnant women and some of their infants in The Netherlands.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Environ Sci Technol. - 0013-936X. ; 42:9, s. 3428-33
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- As part of a large European Union (EU)-funded comparative toxicology and human epidemiology study, EU-Compare, a selection of organohalogen compounds (OHCs) was analyzed in maternal serum, collected at the 35th week of pregnancy, and in cord serum of a number of their infants to determine maternal concentrations and to investigate the extent of transplacental transfer of these compounds. Eight neutral OHCs were analyzed: one polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB: CB-153),4,4'-DDE, five polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs: BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-100, BDE-153, and BDE-154), and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD). Five phenolic OHCs were analyzed: three hydroxylated PCBs (40H-CB-107, 40H-CB-146, and 40H-CB-187), one hydroxylated PBDE (60H-BDE-47), and pentachlorophenol (PCP). All OHCs, except 60H-BDE-47, were present in maternal and cord serum. The historically identified OHCs showed the highest concentration: 4,4'-DDE (median value 89 ng/g lipid in maternal serum and 68 ng/g lipid in cord serum) and PCP (median value 970 pg/g serum in maternal serum and 1500 pg/g serum in cord serum). HBCDD and the PBDEs were present at much lower concentrations. We conclude that OHCs are present in the serum of pregnant women, and all compounds tested are transferred over the placenta. Because transfer is occurring at a critical stage of infant development, investigation of the health impact is urgent.
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| 3. |
- Abraham, Mark J, et al.
(författare)
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Ensuring Mixing Efficiency of Replica-Exchange Molecular Dynamics Simulations
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1549-9618 .- 1549-9626. ; 4:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We address the question of constructing a protocol for replica-exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) simulations that make efficient use of the replica space, assess whether published applications are achieving such "mixing" efficiency, and provide a how-to guide to assist users to plan efficient REMD simulations. To address our first question, we introduce and discuss three metrics for assessing the number of replica-exchange attempts required to justify the use of a replica scheme and define a "transit number" as the lower bound for the length of an efficient simulation. Our literature survey of applications of REMD simulations of peptides in explicit solvent indicated that authors are not routinely reporting sufficient details of their simulation protocols to allow readers to make independent assessments of the impact of the method on their results, particularly whether mixing efficiency has been achieved. Necessary details include the expected or observed replica-exchange probability, together with the total number of exchange attempts, the exchange period, and estimates of the autocorrelation time of the potential energy. Our analysis of cases where the necessary information was reported suggests that in many of these simulations there are insufficient exchanges attempted or an insufficiently long period between them to provide confidence that the simulation length justifies the size of the replica scheme. We suggest guidelines for designing REMD simulation protocols to ensure mixing efficiency. Two key recommendations are that the exchange period should in general be larger than 1 ps and the number of exchange attempts should be chosen to significantly exceed the transit number for the replica scheme.
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| 4. |
- Marchesini, Stefano, et al.
(författare)
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Massively parallel X-ray holography
- 2008
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Ingår i: Nature Photonics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1749-4885 .- 1749-4893. ; 2:9, s. 560-563
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Advances in the development of free-electron lasers offer the realistic prospect of nanoscale imaging on the timescale of atomic motions. We identify X-ray Fourier-transform holography(1,2,3) as a promising but, so far, inefficient scheme to do this. We show that a uniformly redundant array(4) placed next to the sample, multiplies the efficiency of X-ray Fourier transform holography by more than three orders of magnitude, approaching that of a perfect lens, and provides holographic images with both amplitude-and phase-contrast information. The experiments reported here demonstrate this concept by imaging a nano-fabricated object at a synchrotron source, and a bacterial cell with a soft-X-ray free-electron laser, where illumination by a single 15-fs pulse was successfully used in producing the holographic image. As X-ray lasers move to shorter wavelengths we expect to obtain higher spatial resolution ultrafast movies of transient states of matter.
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| 5. |
- van Boxtel, Antonius L, et al.
(författare)
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Microarray analysis reveals a mechanism of phenolic polybrominated diphenylether toxicity in zebrafish.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Environ Sci Technol. - 0013-936X. ; 42:5, s. 1773-9
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) are ubiquitous in the environment, with the lower brominated congener 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenylether (BDE47) among the most prevalent. The phenolic PBDE, 6-hydroxy-BDE47 (6-OH-BDE47) is both an important metabolite formed by in vivo metabolism of BDE47 and a natural product produced by marine organisms such as algae. Although this compound has been detected in humans and wildlife, including fish, virtually nothing is known of its in vivo toxicity. Here we report that 6-OH-BDE47 is acutely toxic in developing and adult zebrafish at concentrations in the nanomolar (nM) range. To identify possible mechanisms of toxicity, we used microarray analysis as a diagnostic tool. Zebrafish embryonic fibroblast (PAC2) cells were exposed to 6-OH-BDE47, BDE47, and the methoxylated metabolite 6-MeO-BDE47. These experiments revealed that 6-OH-BDE47 alters the expression of genes involved in proton transport and carbohydrate metabolism. These findings, combined with the acute toxicity, suggested that 6-OH-BDE47 causes disruption of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS).Therefore, we further investigated the effect of 6-OH-BDE47 on OXPHOS in zebrafish mitochondria. Results show unequivocally that this compound is a potent uncoupler of OXPHOS and is an inhibitor of complex II of the electron transport chain. This study provides the first evidence of the in vivo toxicity and an important potential mechanism of toxicity of an environmentally relevant phenolic PBDE of both anthropogenic and natural origin. The results of this study emphasize the need for further investigation on the presence and toxicity of this class of polybrominated compounds.
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