The objective of this study was to evaluate the reproductive risk associated with exposure of adult male Fisher-344 (F-344) rats to inhaled benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), a ubiquitous environmental toxicant present in cigarette smoke, automobile exhaust fumes and industrial emissions. Rats were assigned randomly to a treatment or control group. Treatment consisted of exposure of rats via nose-only inhal...

Intracellular Ca2+ oscillations induced by oxytocin and vasopressin were analyzed in a rat liver cell line (Clone 9) in order to identify mechanisms by which benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) alters Ca2+ signaling patterns in these cells. Clone 9 cells exhibit an initial Ca2+ spike, followed by Ca2+ oscillations upon oxytocin or vasopressin treatment. The range of frequencies (maximum 110 mHz) was dependent...

Particulate matter (PM) is a major by-product from the combustion of fossil fuels. The biological target of inhaled PM is the pulmonary epithelium and resident macrophages. In this study, we demonstrate that cultured macrophages (RAW 264.7 cells) exposed continously to a well-defined model of PM [benzo[ a]pyrene adsorbed on carbon black (CB+BaP)] exhibit a time-dependent expression and release ...

Genetic analysis indicates that Escherichia coli possesses two independent pathways for oxidation of phosphite (Pt) to phosphate. One pathway depends on the 14-gene phn operon, which encodes the enzyme C-P lyase. The other pathway depends on the phoA locus, which encodes bacterial alkaline phosphatase (BAP). Transposon mutagenesis studies strongly suggest that BAP is the only enzyme involved in...

The vitellogenin genes of Xenopus are liver-specifically expressed. An in vitro transcription system derived from rat liver nuclei allowed us to define the cis-element BABS (B-activator binding site) in the promoter of the B1 vitellogenin gene. An oligonucleotide encompassing the region from -53 to -44 linked to a TATA box is sufficient for a tenfold increase of the transcriptional activity. Ge...

Atherogenic stimuli trigger complex responses in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) that culminate in activation/repression of overlapping signal transduction cascades involving oxidative stress. In the case of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon present in tobacco smoke, the atherogenic response involves interference with redox homeostasis by oxidative intermediates of Ba...

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that ethanol upregulates NQO1 expression by activating the AhR-Nrf2 pathway. Long-term exposure sustains low level of AhR protein and diminishes inducibility its target genes Nrf2 BaP. These will contribute to understanding synergistic toxicity polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds, such as

This document proposes a method to manage the dynamic bandwidth allocation of implementations supporting the PPP multilink protocol [2]. This is done by defining the Bandwidth Allocation Protocol (BAP), as well as its associated control protocol, the Bandwidth Allocation Control Protocol (BACP). BAP can be used to manage the number of links in a multilink bundle. BAP defines datagrams to coordi...

Knowledge of the ability of the female reproductive system to metabolize environmental chemicals is critical not only from the standpoint of toxicity but also from infertility risk assessment. Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) is a toxicant that is released into the environment from automobile exhausts, cigarette smoke, burning of refuse, industrial emissions, and hazardous waste sites. In exposed animals, ...

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a human carcinogen that covalently binds to DNA after activation by cytochrome P450 (P450). Here, we investigated whether NADH:cytochrome b5 reductase (CBR) in the presence of cytochrome b5 can act as sole electron donor to human P450 1A1 during BaP oxidation and replace the canonical NADPH:cytochrome P450 reductase (POR) system. We also studied the efficiencies of the c...