Biotransformation of D-limonene to (+) trans-carveol by toluene-grown Rhodococcus opacus PWD4 cells.
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The toluene-degrading strain Rhodococcus opacus PWD4 was found to hydroxylate D-limonene exclusively in the 6-position, yielding enantiomerically pure (+) trans-carveol and traces of (+) carvone. This biotransformation was studied using cells cultivated in chemostat culture with toluene as a carbon and energy source. The maximal specific activity of (+) trans-carveol formation was 14.7 U (g of cells [dry weight])(-1), and the final yield was 94 to 97%. Toluene was found to be a strong competitive inhibitor of the D-limonene conversion. Glucose-grown cells did not form any trans-carveol from D-limonene. These results suggest that one of the enzymes involved in toluene degradation is responsible for this allylic monohydroxylation. Another toluene degrader (Rhodococcus globerulus PWD8) had a lower specific activity but was found to oxidize most of the formed trans-carveol to (+) carvone, allowing for the biocatalytic production of this flavor compound. (+info)
Apoptosis induced in rats by 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide is associated with activation of the caspase cascades.
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Previous studies have shown that ovotoxicity induced in rats by dosing with 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) is likely via acceleration of the normal rate of atresia (apoptosis). The present study was designed to investigate the apoptosis-related caspase cascades as a component of this phenomenon in isolated ovarian small follicles. Female F344 rats were given a single dose of VCD (80 mg/kg, i.p., on Day 1; a time when ovotoxicity has not been initiated), or dosed daily for 15 days (80 mg/kg, i.p., on Day 15; a time when significant ovotoxicity is underway). Ovaries were collected after the final dose. Small preantral follicles (25-100 microm in diameter) were isolated, cellular fractions were prepared, and cleavage activity or protein expression levels of caspases-3, -8, and -9 were measured. Cytosolic caspase-3 activity was increased in small follicles (P < 0.01) by VCD treatment (Day 1, 2.86 +/- 0.23; Day 15, 3.25 +/- 0.64, VCD/control, n = 3). This activation was not seen in large or antral follicles (not targeted by VCD). Procaspase-3 protein was increased(P < 0.05) by VCD treatment 212% over controls in small ovarian follicles in Day 15, but not Day 1-dosed rats. Immunofluorescence staining intensity was evaluated by confocal microscopy. Caspase-3 protein, located in the cytosolic compartment of oocytes and granulosa cells of preantral follicles in various stages of development, was selectively increased (P < 0.05) in primordial and small primary follicles from Day 15 VCD-dosed rats. Caspase-8 activity was increased in small follicles in Day 15, but not in Day 1-treated rats; whereas caspase-9 activity was increased by VCD on Day 1 in the mitochondrial fraction. Thus, these data provide evidence that accelerated atresia induced in small ovarian follicles in rats by VCD is associated with activation of a caspase-mediated cascade. (+info)
The male rat carcinogens limonene and sodium saccharin are not mutagenic to male Big Blue rats.
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Limonene and sodium saccharin are male rat specific carcinogens giving rise to renal and bladder tumours, respectively. Both compounds give negative results in genetic toxicity assays suggesting a non-genotoxic mode of action for their carcinogenicity. The alpha 2U-globulin accumulation theory has been invoked to explain the renal carcinogenicity of limonene: the accumulation of micro masses of calcium phosphate in the bladder, coupled with a high pH environment in the male rat bladder, has been suggested to be responsible for the bladder carcinogenicity of sodium saccharin. The implication of these proposed mechanisms is that limonene and sodium saccharin will not be mutagenic to the rat kidney and bladder, respectively. This proposal has been evaluated by assessing the mutagenic potential of the two chemicals to male lacI transgenic (Big Blue) rats. Male Big Blue rats were exposed for 10 consecutive days to either limonene in diet, at a dose level in excess of that used in the original National Toxicology Program gavage carcinogenicity bioassay, or to sodium saccharin in diet at the dose known to induce bladder tumours. The multi-site rat carcinogen 4-aminobiphenyl was used as a positive control for the experiment. Limonene failed to increase the mutant frequency in the liver or kidney of the rats, and sodium saccharin failed to increase the mutant frequency in the liver or bladder of the rats. 4-Aminobiphenyl was mutagenic to all three of these tissues. These results add further support to a non-genotoxic mechanism of carcinogenic action for both limonene and sodium saccharin. (+info)
Effect of 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide dosing in rats on GSH levels in liver and ovaries.
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Repeated daily dosing of rats with the occupational chemical 4- vinylcyclohexene or its diepoxide metabolite (VCD) for 15 days destroys the smallest ovarian follicles. VCD acutely reduced hepatic levels of the antioxidant, glutathione (GSH); therefore, these studies were designed to evaluate whether GSH concentrations mediate VCD-induced ovotoxicity. Immature female Fischer 344 rats were dosed once or daily for 15 days with VCD (0.57 mmol/kg, ip) or the GSH synthesis inhibitor buthionine sulfoximine (BSO, 2 mmol/kg, ip). Animals were euthanized 2, 6, or 26 h following a single dose, and 2 or 26 h following 15 days of daily dosing. Reduced (p < 0.05) hepatic GSH was seen within 2 h of a single dose of either VCD (51 +/- 5% of control) or BSO (42 +/- 9%), but only BSO reduced ovarian GSH (71 +/- 5% at 6 h, p = 0.05) as measured by HPLC. Within 26 h, GSH levels had returned to control levels with either treatment. Hepatic GSH levels were reduced (< 0.05) 2 h after 15 daily doses with BSO (42 +/- 5%) or VCD (70 +/- 4%), but only BSO decreased ovarian GSH (64 +/- 3%). GSH levels in 15-day tissues were similar to controls 26 h after the final dose. Neither BSO nor VCD increased hepatic or ovarian concentrations of the oxidized dimer of GSH (GSSG) or thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), indicators of oxidative stress. These results suggest these treatments did not cause an oxidative stress. Histological counts of ovarian small follicle numbers were reduced (p < 0.05) in 15-day VCD-treated rats, whereas BSO did not affect follicle numbers, even though BSO reduced ovarian GSH content. These results support the conclusion that alterations in ovarian GSH levels are not involved in VCD-induced ovotoxicity. (+info)
Diels-Alder reaction of 1,3-butadiene derivatives with 1-methyl-2(1H)-quinolones having an electron-withdrawing group at the 4-position.
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Diels-Alder reactions of 1-methyl-2(1H)-quinolones having an electron-withdrawing group at the 4-position with isoprene, butadiene sulfone, and cyclohexadiene were performed to yield functionalized phenanthridones stereoselectively at atmospheric and at high pressure. Regioselectivity and stereochemistry of a methoxycarbonyl group were studied using the semi-empirical and ab initio MO methods, respectively. (+info)
Limonene arrests parasite development and inhibits isoprenylation of proteins in Plasmodium falciparum.
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Isoprenylation is an essential protein modification in eukaryotic cells. Herein, we report that in Plasmodium falciparum, a number of proteins were labeled upon incubation of intraerythrocytic forms with either [(3)H]farnesyl pyrophosphate or [(3)H]geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate. By thin-layer chromatography, we showed that attached isoprenoids are partially modified to dolichol and other, uncharacterized, residues, confirming active isoprenoid metabolism in this parasite. Incubation of blood-stage P. falciparum treated with the isoprenylation inhibitor limonene significantly decreased the parasites' progression from the ring stage to the trophozoite stage and at 1.22 mM, 50% of the parasites died after the first cycle. Using Ras- and Rap-specific monoclonal antibodies, putative Rap and Ras proteins of P. falciparum were immunoprecipitated. Upon treatment with 0.5 mM limonene, isoprenylation of these proteins was significantly decreased, possibly explaining the observed arrest of parasite development. (+info)
Role of induction of specific hepatic cytochrome P450 isoforms in epoxidation of 4-vinylcyclohexene.
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4-Vinyl-1-cyclohexene (VCH) is ovotoxic in B6C3F(1) mice but not in Fischer-344 rats, which can be partially attributed to greater formation of toxic epoxides from VCH in mice compared with rats. Since repeated exposure to VCH is necessary to cause ovotoxicity in mice, it is important to determine whether repeated exposure results in induction of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes involved in its bioactivation. Hepatic microsomes prepared from mice or rats treated repeatedly with VCH demonstrated significantly increased VCH bioactivation in vitro, as assessed by VCH-1,2-epoxide, VCH-7,8-epoxide, or vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) formation. Mice and rats were then dosed with VCH, VCH-1,2-epoxide, or VCD for 10 days and measured for increases in hepatic microsomal CYP levels or activities. Total hepatic CYP levels were elevated only in microsomes from mice pretreated with VCH or VCH-1,2-epoxide. Immunoblotting analysis of microsomes from VCH-treated rodents revealed elevated levels of CYP2A and CYP2B in mice but not rats. VCH-1,2-epoxide pretreatment also increased CYP2B levels in the mouse. Activities toward specific substrates for CYP2A and CYP2B (coumarin and pentoxyresorufin, respectively) confirmed that VCH and VCH-1,2-epoxide pretreatments resulted in increased catalytic activities of CYP2A and CYP2B in the mouse but not the rat. Pretreatment with phenobarbital, a known inducer of CYP2A and CYP2B, increased VCH bioactivation in both species. Interestingly, metabolism studies with human CYP "Supersomes" reveal that, of eight isoforms tested, only human CYP2E1 and CYP2B6 were capable of significantly catalyzing VCH epoxidation, whereas CYP2B6, CYP2A6, CYP2E1, and CYP3A4 were capable of catalyzing the epoxidation of the monoepoxides. (+info)
Effects of terpineol on the compound action potential of the rat sciatic nerve.
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Terpineol, a volatile terpenoid alcohol of low toxicity, is widely used in the perfumery industry. It is an important chemical constituent of the essential oil of many plants with widespread applications in folk medicine and in aromatherapy. The effects of terpineol on the compound action potential (CAP) of rat sciatic nerve were studied. Terpineol induced a dose-dependent blockade of the CAP. At 100 microM, terpineol had no demonstrable effect. At 300 microM terpineol, peak-to-peak amplitude and conduction velocity of CAP were significantly reduced at the end of 180-min exposure of the nerve to the drug, from 3.28 +/- 0.22 mV and 33.5 +/- 7.05 m/s, respectively, to 1.91 +/- 0.51 mV and 26.2 +/- 4.55 m/s. At 600 microM, terpineol significantly reduced peak-to-peak amplitude and conduction velocity from 2.97 +/- 0.55 mV and 32.8 +/- 3.91 m/s to 0.24 +/- 0.23 mV and 2.72 +/- 2.72 m/s, respectively (N = 5). All these effects developed slowly and were reversible upon 180-min washout. (+info)