Effects of endosulfan isomers on cytokine and nitric oxide production by differentially activated RAW 264.7 cells.

Endosulfan is an organochlorine insecticide comprised of two isomers: endosulfan-α and endosulfan-β. Endosulfan exposure has been shown to elevate some inflammatory factors, such as nitric oxide (NO) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF), in animals or cultures of animal cells. Because the two endosulfan isomers can vary in their biological activities, the goal of this study was to determine if individual endosulfan isomers differentially impact production of NO or TNF by the mouse macrophage cell RAW 264.

Time- and dose-dependent effects of ethanol on mouse embryonic stem cells.

Ethanol is a common solvent used with mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells in protocols to test chemicals for evidence of developmental toxicity. In this study, dose-response relationships for ethanol toxicity in mES cells were examined. For cells maintained in an undifferentiated state, ethanol significantly reduced viable cell numbers with estimated half maximal inhibitory concentrations of 1.