A Plasma Membrane Nanodomain Ensures Signal Specificity during Osmotic Signaling in Plants.

In the course of their growth and development, plants have to constantly perceive and react to their environment. This is achieved in cells by the coordination of complex combinatorial signaling networks. However, how signal integration and specificity are achieved in this context is unknown.

Osmotic Stress Activates Two Reactive Oxygen Species Pathways with Distinct Effects on Protein Nanodomains and Diffusion.

Physiological acclimation of plants to an everchanging environment is governed by complex combinatorial signaling networks that perceive and transduce various abiotic and biotic stimuli. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) serve as one of the second messengers in plant responses to hyperosmotic stress. The molecular bases of ROS production and the primary cellular processes that they target were investigated in the Arabidopsis () root.

Uncovering pH at both sides of the root plasma membrane interface using noninvasive imaging.

Building a proton gradient across a biological membrane and between different tissues is a matter of great importance for plant development and nutrition. To gain a better understanding of proton distribution in the plant root apoplast as well as across the plasma membrane, we generated plants expressing stable membrane-anchored ratiometric fluorescent sensors based on pHluorin. These sensors enabled noninvasive pH-specific measurements in mature root cells from the medium-epidermis interface up to the inner cell layers that lie beyond the Casparian strip.

The physiological determinants of low-level urine cadmium: an assessment in a cross-sectional study among schoolchildren.

Background: Recent studies in children have reported associations of urinary cadmium (U-Cd), used as biomarker of Cd body burden, with renal dysfunction, retarded growth and impaired cognitive development in children. Little is known, however, about factors influencing U-Cd in children and likely to act as confounders.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study involving 249 schoolchildren (mean age, 5.

Nasal epithelium injury by chlorination products and other stressors predicts persistent sensitization to aeroallergens in young schoolchildren.

Background: Allergic sensitization during childhood is a dynamic process with a substantial rate of remission. Factors influencing this process are largely unknown.

Methods: We conducted a two-year prospective study among 121 schoolchildren (mean age, 5.

Serum club cell protein 16 is associated with asymptomatic airway responsiveness in adults: Findings from the French epidemiological study on the genetics and environment of asthma.

Background And Objective: Club cell secretory protein (CC-16) is a sensitive biomarker of airways epithelium integrity. It has gained interest as a biological marker in chronic lung diseases because of its presumed relationship to inflammation. Little is known about the association between CC-16 serum level and asthma, lung function and airway responsiveness (AR).

Chlorinated pool attendance, airway epithelium defects and the risks of allergic diseases in adolescents: Interrelationships revealed by circulating biomarkers.

It has been suggested that allergic diseases might be epithelial disorders driven by various environmental stressors but the epidemiological evidence supporting this concept is limited. In a cross-sectional study of 835 school adolescents (365 boys; mean age, 15.5 yr), we measured the serum concentrations of Club cell protein (CC16), surfactant-associated protein D (SP-D) and of total and aeroallergen-specific IgE.

Blood lead, cadmium and mercury among children from urban, industrial and rural areas of Fez Boulemane Region (Morocco): relevant factors and early renal effects.

Objectives: To describe blood lead (Pb-B), cadmium (Cd-B) and mercury (Hg-B) levels in children living in urban, industrial and rural areas in Fez city (north of Morocco) and to identify the determinants and some renal effects of exposure.

Material And Methods: The study was conducted from June 2007 to January 2008 in 209 school children (113 girls, 96 boys), aged 6-12 years, from urban, industrial and rural areas in Fez city. Interview and questionnaires data were obtained.

Nasal epithelium biomarkers in young children: associations with allergic sensitization and environmental stressors.

Background: Recent studies suggest that allergic diseases might have their onset in early epithelial barrier defects. To test this hypothesis, we assessed associations between nasal epithelium biomarkers, environmental stressors, and the risks of allergic sensitization.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study of 288 kindergarten children (mean age, 5.

Lung function in volunteers before and after exposure to trichloramine in indoor pool environments and asthma in a cohort of pool workers.

Objectives: Exposure to trichloramine (NCl(3)) in indoor swimming-pool environments is known to cause mucous membrane irritation, but if it gives rise to changes in lung function or asthma in adults is not known. (1) We determined lung function in volunteers before and after exposure to indoor pool environments. (2) We studied the occurrence of respiratory symptoms and asthma in a cohort of pool workers.

Nasal epithelium integrity, environmental stressors, and allergic sensitization: a biomarker study in adolescents.

Changes in the airways epithelium caused by environmental insults might play a role in the development of allergic rhinitis. We measured albumin and Clara cell protein (CC16) in the nasal lavage fluid (NALF) from 474 adolescents (263 girls and 211 boys). The NALF CC16/albumin ratio, integrating the permeability and cellular integrity of the nasal epithelium, decreased mostly with time spent in chlorinated pools.

Associations between proteins and heavy metals in urine at low environmental exposures: evidence of reverse causality.

Heavy metals can cause renal effects on vulnerable populations but it is uncertain whether these metals still pose health risks at the low exposure levels now prevailing in most industrialized countries. In a cross-sectional study performed on 736 adolescents, we assessed the associations between the concentrations of cadmium and lead in blood and urine and the urinary concentrations of albumin and of low-molecular-weight (LMW) proteins, retinol-binding protein (RBP) and β(2)-microglobulin. Multiple regression analyses were tested using urinary markers normalized to urinary creatinine or specific gravity.

Acute kidney injury following acute liver failure: potential role of systemic cadmium mobilization?

Objective: A significant fraction of patients with acute liver failure (ALF) suffer from a concomitant acute kidney injury (AKI), the mechanism of which is probably multifactorial. Cadmium (Cd) is a widespread environmental pollutant and a tubulotoxic metal that accumulates in the liver. We tested the hypothesis that a release of Cd during ALF may cause a redistribution of Cd from the liver to the kidneys and play a role in the occurrence of ALF-associated AKI.

Exposure to bioaerosols, respiratory health and lung-specific proteins: a prospective study in garbage and wastewater workers.

Objectives: To prospectively assess respiratory health in wastewater workers and garbage collectors over 5 years.

Methods: Exposure, respiratory symptoms and conditions, spirometry and lung-specific proteins were assessed yearly in a cohort of 304 controls, 247 wastewater workers and 52 garbage collectors. Results were analysed with random coefficient models and linear regression taking into account several potential confounders.

Confounders in the assessment of the renal effects associated with low-level urinary cadmium: an analysis in industrial workers.

Background: Associations of proteinuria with low-level urinary cadmium (Cd) are currently interpreted as the sign of renal dysfunction induced by Cd. Few studies have considered the possibility that these associations might be non causal and arise from confounding by factors influencing the renal excretion of Cd and proteins.

Methods: We examined 184 healthy male workers (mean age, 39.

The threshold level of urinary cadmium associated with increased urinary excretion of retinol-binding protein and beta 2-microglobulin: a re-assessment in a large cohort of nickel-cadmium battery workers.

To evaluate the threshold value of urinary cadmium (CdU) for renal dysfunction on the basis of relationships unconfounded by protein degradation, diuresis and the renal effects associated with chronic smoking. Methods We studied 599 workers (451 men, mean age 45.4 years) who were employed in four nickel-cadmium battery plants for 18.

Lung epithelium injury biomarkers in workers exposed to sulphur dioxide in a non-ferrous smelter.

Serum Clara cell protein (CC16) and surfactant-associated protein D (SP-D) were measured in 161 workers exposed to sulphur dioxide (SO(2)) in a non-ferrous smelter. Seventy workers from a blanket manufacture served as referents. Exposure to SO(2) and tobacco smoking were associated with a decrease of CC16 and an increase of SP-D in serum.

Nonmalignant respiratory effects of chronic arsenic exposure from drinking water among never-smokers in Bangladesh.

Background: Arsenic from drinking water has been associated with malignant and nonmalignant respiratory illnesses. The association with nonmalignant respiratory illnesses has not been well established because the assessments of respiratory symptoms may be influenced by recall bias or interviewer bias because participants had visible skin lesions.

Objectives: We examined the relationship of the serum level of Clara cell protein CC16--a novel biomarker for respiratory illnesses--with well As, total urinary As, and urinary As methylation indices.

Kidney injury molecule-1 is an early biomarker of cadmium nephrotoxicity.

Cadmium (Cd) exposure results in injury to the proximal tubule characterized by polyuria and proteinuria. Kidney injury molecule-1 (Kim-1) is a transmembrane glycoprotein not normally detected in the mature kidney, but is upregulated and shed into the urine following nephrotoxic injury. In this study, we determine if Kim-1 might be a useful early biomarker of Cd nephrotoxicity.

Infant swimming practice, pulmonary epithelium integrity, and the risk of allergic and respiratory diseases later in childhood.

Objective: Irritant gases and aerosols contaminating the air of indoor swimming pools can affect the lung epithelium and increase asthma risk in children. We evaluated the impact of infant swimming practice on allergic status and respiratory health later in childhood.

Methods: Clara cell protein, surfactant-associated protein D, and total and aeroallergen-specific immunoglobulin E were measured in the serum of 341 schoolchildren aged 10 to 13 years, among whom 43 had followed an infant swimming program.

Increase of exhaled nitric oxide in children exposed to low levels of ambient ozone.

Ozone (O3) is known to induce lung function impairment and airways inflammation during episodes of photochemical smog. The aim of the present study was to assess the inflammatory effect of ambient O3 in healthy children using nitric oxide in exhaled air (eNO) as a noninvasive test. The study was performed on 6 groups of children (n = 11-15), aged 6.

Surfactant protein A, exposure to endotoxin, and asthma in garbage collectors and in wastewater workers.

Endotoxin causes an inflammation at the bronchial and alveolar level. The inflammation-induced increase in permeability of the bronchoalveolar epithelial barrier is supposed to cause a leakage of pneumoproteins. Therefore, their concentrations are expected to increase in the bloodstream.

Uteroglobin-related protein 1 and clara cell protein in induced sputum of patients with asthma and rhinitis.

Rationale: Uteroglobin-related protein 1 (UGRP1) and Clara cell protein (CC16), members of the secretoglobin family, increasingly appear to play a role in airway inflammatory response.

Objective: To explore levels of UGRP1 and CC16 in induced sputum of patients with asthma and rhinitis.

Methods: Induced-sputum samples of patients with asthma or rhinitis (n = 32 each; atopic asthma, n = 24; atopic rhinitis, n = 20) and from 19 nonsmoking nonatopic control subjects were analyzed for cytology and levels of UGRP1, CC16, and albumin.