Advancing Environmental Toxicology In Vitro:From Immortalized Cancer Cell Lines to 3D Models Derived from Stem Cells

In recent years,rapid industrial development has resulted in the production and exposure of a substantial number of compounds to the human body.This has created an urgent need in environmental toxicology for models that are efficient,accurate,and cost-effective in evaluating the health impacts of these compounds on humans.Over the past seven decades,various cancer cell lines and immortalized cell lines have made significant contributions to the advancement of research on organ toxicity.Pluripotent stem cell technology,especially toxicological models derived from pluripotent stem cells,presents modern environmental toxicologists with high-throughput,species-relevant,and predictive options.In this comprehensive review,we assess the characteristics of representative human cancer cell lines and immortalized cell lines in environmental toxicology,as well as introduce two distinct human pluripotent stem cell types and their innovative toxicological models.We explore their applications and prospects in the field of environmental toxicology,while also addressing the readiness of in vitro models to confront the emerging challenges of the future.

Clinical features of familial adenomas polyps in Chinese and establishment of its immortal lymphocyte cell lines

AIM： To reserve the rare Chinese familial adenomas polyp （FAP） family resource and to investigate the clinical features of FAP in Chinese for its diagnosis. METHODS： Clinical features of patients with FAP were investigated. If there is any question, their medical records were verified. Blood sample was taken and lymphocyte immortal cell lines were established with modified EB-transformation methods. Congenital hypertrophy of retinal pigment epithelium （CHRPE） was checked by an experienced ophthalmologist. RESULTS： Twenty seven families including 21 classical FAP （CFAP） families, 3 attenuated FAP （AFAP） families, and 3 suspected AFAP families were investigated. A total of 116 lymphocyte immortal cell lines were established from 26 families. In all the FAP families, colorectal cancer occurred at the mean age of 42.84 years. Of the 16 families checked, 15 （93.75%） had CHRPE. The mean number of patients suffering from colorectal neoplasm was 3.14 in CFAP families and 2.0 in AFAP families （P 〈 0.01）. The mean oldest age at diagnosis of FAP was 41.75 years in CFAP families, and 58.67 years in AFAP families, respectively （P 〈 0.01）. Mean age of development of colorectal cancer was 42.23 in CFAP and 57.33 years old in AFAP （P 〈 0.01）. Mean of the earliest age at diagnosis of FAP was 29.95 years in the FAP families with a positive family history and 46.80 years in the FAP families with a negative family history （P 〈 0.01）. The ratio of extra-intestinal tumors to colorectal neoplasms was different in the two kinds of families with positive and negative family history （P 〈 0.01）. CONCLUSION： Additional use of ciclosporin will effectively improve to establish lymphocyte immortal cell lines with modified EB- transformation methods. In Chinese FAP, there was a high frequency of CHRPE, and a later age at diagnosis and a later age of development of colorectal cancer in AFAR And earlier age at diagnosis in FAP with positive family history was also found that will help to diagnose various kinds of FAP in Chinese.

Differential Transcriptional Responses in Corneal and Lung Epithelial Cells to Seasonal Influenza With Potential Function of LGALS9

Seasonal flu,primarily caused by influenza A H1N1 and H3N2 subtype viruses or influenza B viruses,is the most prevalent respiratory tract infection globally and leads to substantial morbidity andmortality annually.Despite the influenza virus being initially recognized as a respiratory pathogenwithwell-characterized transmission through respiratory droplets,its impact on the ocular epithelium and associated gene expression remains relatively unexplored.In this study,we investigated the transcriptional profiles of immortalized human corneal epithelial cells(HCE-S)and A549 human lung epithelial cells infected with H1N1 and H3N2 influenza virus.In comparison with A549 cells,a reduced number of differentially expressed geneswas observed in HCE-S upon influenza virus infection.Specifically,there was a significant upregulation of the genes IFI44L and OAS1,along with lower release of the CCL5/RANTES protein.Notably,our findings revealed uniquely upregulated LGALS9(encoding galectin-9)in HCE-S following infection with the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus.Furthermore,targeted knockdown of LGALS9 in these cells resulted in a measurable decrease in viral infection,highlighting its role in the cellular responses to influenza virus and suggesting a novel avenue for antiviral therapy.Overall,our findings provide insight into the distinct mechanisms of influenza virus interactions with different epithelial cells and underscore the importance of studying the ocular surface in understanding influenza pathogenesis.

Comprehensive Characterization and Global Transcriptome Analysis of Human Fetal Liver Terminal Erythropoiesis

The fetal liver(FL)is the key erythropoietic organ during fetal development,but knowledge on human FL erythropoiesis is very limited.In this study,we sorted primary erythroblasts from FL cells and performed RNA sequencing(RNA-seq)analyses.We found that temporal gene expression patterns reflected changes in function during primary human FL terminal erythropoiesis.Notably,the expression of genes enriched in proteolysis and autophagy was up-regulated in orthochromatic erythroblasts(OrthoEs),suggesting the involvement of these pathways in enucleation.We also performed RNA-seq of in vitro cultured erythroblasts derived from FL CD34+cells.Comparison of transcriptomes between the primary and cultured erythroblasts revealed significant differences,indicating impacts of the culture system on gene expression.Notably,the expression of lipid metabolism-related genes was increased in cultured erythroblasts.We further immortalized erythroid cell lines from FL and cord blood(CB)CD34+cells(FL-iEry and CB-iEry,respectively).FL-iEry and CB-iEry were immortalized at the proerythroblast stage and can be induced to differentiate into OrthoEs,but their enucleation ability was very low.Comparison of the transcriptomes between OrthoEs with and without enucleation capability revealed the down-regulation of pathways involved in chromatin organization and mitophagy in OrthoEs without enucleation capacity,indicating that defects in chromatin organization and mitophagy contribute to the inability of OrthoEs to enucleate.Additionally,the expression of HBE1,HBZ,and HBG2 was up-regulated in FL-iEry compared with CB-iEry,and such up-regulation was accompanied by down-regulated expression of BCL11A and up-regulated expression of LIN28B and IGF2BP1.Our study provides new insights into human FL erythropoiesis and rich resources for future studies.