Reconstructing the provenance of the hominin fossils from Trinil (Java, Indonesia) through an integrated analysis of the historical and recent excavations.

In the early 1890s at Trinil, Eugène Dubois found a hominin skullcap (Trinil 2) and femur (Trinil 3, Femur I), situated at the same level ca. 10-15 m apart. He interpreted them as representing one species, Pithecanthropus erectus (now Homo erectus) which he inferred to be a transitional form between apes and humans.

Evolution of Hominin Detoxification: Neanderthal and Modern Human Ah Receptor Respond Similarly to TCDD.

In studies of hominin adaptations to fire use, the role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) in the evolution of detoxification has been highlighted, including statements that the modern human AHR confers a significantly better capacity to deal with toxic smoke components than the Neanderthal AHR. To evaluate this, we compared the AHR-controlled induction of cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) mRNA in HeLa human cervix epithelial adenocarcinoma cells transfected with an Altai-Neanderthal or a modern human reference AHR expression construct, and exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). We compared the complete AHR mRNA sequences including the untranslated regions (UTRs), maintaining the original codon usage.

Fire Usage and Ancient Hominin Detoxification Genes: Protective Ancestral Variants Dominate While Additional Derived Risk Variants Appear in Modern Humans.

Studies of the defence capacity of ancient hominins against toxic substances may contribute importantly to the reconstruction of their niche, including their diets and use of fire. Fire usage implies frequent exposure to hazardous compounds from smoke and heated food, known to affect general health and fertility, probably resulting in genetic selection for improved detoxification. To investigate whether such genetic selection occurred, we investigated the alleles in Neanderthals, Denisovans and modern humans at gene polymorphisms well-known to be relevant from modern human epidemiological studies of habitual tobacco smoke exposure and mechanistic evidence.

Cytotoxicity of surface-functionalized silicon and germanium nanoparticles: the dominant role of surface charges.

Although it is frequently hypothesized that surface (like surface charge) and physical characteristics (like particle size) play important roles in cellular interactions of nanoparticles (NPs), a systematic study probing this issue is missing. Hence, a comparative cytotoxicity study, quantifying nine different cellular endpoints, was performed with a broad series of monodisperse, well characterized silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) NPs with various surface functionalizations. Human colonic adenocarcinoma Caco-2 and rat alveolar macrophage NR8383 cells were used to clarify the toxicity of this series of NPs.

In vivo validation of DNA adduct formation by estragole in rats predicted by physiologically based biodynamic modelling.

Estragole is a naturally occurring food-borne genotoxic compound found in a variety of food sources, including spices and herbs. This results in human exposure to estragole via the regular diet. The objective of this study was to quantify the dose-dependent estragole-DNA adduct formation in rat liver and the urinary excretion of 1'-hydroxyestragole glucuronide in order to validate our recently developed physiologically based biodynamic (PBBD) model.