Inhibition of iodide transport in rat thyroid cells using N-substituted anthranilic acid derivatives

The elderly as a sensitive population in environmental exposures: making the case

The US population is aging. CDC has estimated that 20% of all Americans will be 65 or older by the year 2030. As a part of the aging process, the body gradually deteriorates and physiologic and metabolic limitations arise. Changes that occur in organ anatomy and function present challenges for dealing with environmental stressors of all kinds, ranging from temperature regulation to drug metabolism and excretion. The elderly are not just older adults, but rather are individuals with unique challenges and different medical needs than younger adults. The ability of the body to respond to physiological challenge presented by environmental chemicals is dependent upon the health of the organ systems that eliminate those substances from the body. Any compromise in the function of those organ systems may result in a decrease in the body's ability to protect itself from the adverse effects of xenobiotics. To investigate this issue, we performed an organ system-by-organ system review of the effects of human aging and the implications for such aging on susceptibility to drugs and xenobiotics. Birnbaum (1991) reported almost 20 years ago that it was clear that the pharmacokinetic behavior of environmental chemicals is, in many cases, altered during aging. Yet, to date, there is a paucity of data regarding recorded effects of environmental chemicals on elderly individuals. As a result, we have to rely on what is known about the effects of aging and the existing data regarding the metabolism, excretion, and adverse effects of prescription medications in that population to determine whether the elderly might be at greater risk when exposed to environmental substances. With increasing life expectancy, more and more people will confront the problems associated with advancing years. Moreover, although proper diet and exercise may lessen the immediate severity of some aspects of aging, the process will continue to gradually degrade the ability to cope with a variety of injuries and diseases. Thus, the adverse effects of long-term, low-level exposure to environmental substances will have a longer time to be manifested in a physiologically weakened elderly population. When such exposures are coupled with concurrent exposure to prescription medications, the effects could be devastating. Public health officials must be knowledgeable about the sensitivity of the growing elderly population, and ensure that the use of health guidance values (HGVs) for environmental contaminants and other substances give consideration to this physiologically compromised segment of the population.

Identification of a unique monocarboxylate transporter (MCT3) in retinal pigment epithelium

The retinal pigment epithelium transports lactate between two tissue compartments, the interphotoreceptor matrix and the choriocapillaris. In this report we describe a 2.45-kb cDNA isolated from a chick cDNA RPE library that encodes a membrane protein found only in RPE cells. The deduced protein has 542 amino acids with twelve putative membrane spanning domains. The cDNA has been designated MCT3 based on its 45% identity in amino acid sequence and structural similarity with the monocarboxylate transporters MCT1 and MCT2. Stable transfectants (pCl-neo/MCT3), made in a rat thyroid epithelial cell line (FRTL-5), express MCT3 RNA. Transfectants had enhanced pyruvate uptake (used as a measure of lactate uptake) which was proton-dependent and inhibited by alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate. In summary, MCT3's unique expression in RPE cells, multiple potential phosphorylation sites, and basolateral distribution suggest that MCT3 may regulate lactate levels in the interphotoreceptor space.

Heat shock inhibits the hypoxia-induced effects on iodide uptake and signal transduction and enhances cell survival in rat thyroid FRTL-5 cells

Chronic hypoxia inhibits rat thyroid function in vivo. To determine possible mechanisms, we studied the effect of hypoxia on iodide uptake, the involvement of second messengers, and cell membrane permeability in rat thyroid FRTL-5 cells. Since sublethal heat stress protects tissues from ischemia, we also determined effects of heat stress. The initial rate of iodide uptake in untreated cells was between 12.98 and 15.28 pmol/micrograms DNA/min. Hypoxia (5% O2) increased the rate of uptake in a time-dependent manner. Heating cells at 45 degrees C for 15 min (heat shock) prior to exposure to hypoxia for 3 days inhibited the increase in the initial rate of I-uptake. Using fura-2, we found that the resting [Ca2+]i in suspended FRTL-5 cells was 65 +/- 7 nM (n = 16). [Ca2+]i was not increased in cells exposed to hypoxia for 1 day, while a 3-day exposure increased [Ca2+]i by 43 +/- 4% (p < 0.05); no additional increase occurred after 7 days of exposure. When cells were heated prior to hypoxia exposure for 3 days, the hypoxia-induced increase in [Ca2+]i did not occur. Similar observations were found with inositol trisphosphates (InsP3). Exposure of cells to hypoxia for 3 days increased InsP3 from 0.08 +/- 0.02 (n = 5) to 0.32 +/- 0.04% total cpm (n = 5, p < 0.05), but sublethal heating of cells prior to hypoxia exposure prevented the increase. Three-day hypoxia increased PKC activity in the membrane fraction (from 67 +/- 7 to 86 +/- 4% of total activity, p < 0.05), and heat shock inhibited these changes also. Immunoblots showed that hypoxia treatment alone and heat shock plus hypoxia resulted in the translocation of PKC-alpha, -delta, -epsilon, and -zeta isoforms, whereas heat shock alone translocated only PKC-beta I, -beta II, and -zeta. Cell membrane integrity was assayed by trypan blue exclusion. Hypoxia alone for 3 days did not affect membrane permeability, but only 49 +/- 3% of cells excluded trypan blue when a 3-day hypoxia exposure was followed by a 6 h reoxygenation. Heat shock prior to hypoxia and reoxygenation protected cell membrane function. Heat shock also induced heat shock protein 70 kDa (HSP-70) synthesis at the transcriptional level. Results suggest that heat shock protects FRTL-5 cells from hypoxic injury, perhaps by inhibiting the initial rate of iodide uptake and second messengers. It is likely that HSP-70 plays an essential role in the process of protection.

Chloride channel blockers decrease intracellular pH in cultured renal epithelial LLC-PK1 cells

The effects of chloride channel blockers upon intracellular pH (pHi) were examined in renal epithelial monolayers of LLC-PK1 cells. A significant intracellular acidification was found with addition of 100 microM 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoate (NPPB), niflumic acid, flufenamate and diphenylamine-2-carboxylate (DPC) but not with 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2-2'disulphonic acid (DIDS). The effects of these agents upon pHi was dose-dependent with apparent K0.5 values of: 16.7 +/- 0.3 microM, 34.2 +/- 0.9 microM and 740 +/- 13 microM for niflumic acid, flufenamate and DPC respectively. The results indicate that at concentrations commonly used to block channel activity these chloride channel blockers have profound effects upon pHi.