MicroRNA Signature of Cigarette Smoking and Evidence for a Putative Causal Role of MicroRNAs in Smoking-Related Inflammation and Target Organ Damage.

Background: Cigarette smoking increases risk for multiple diseases. MicroRNAs regulate gene expression and may play a role in smoking-induced target organ damage. We sought to describe a microRNA signature of cigarette smoking and relate it to smoking-associated clinical phenotypes, gene expression, and lung inflammatory signaling.

The liver toxicity biomarker study phase I: markers for the effects of tolcapone or entacapone.

The Liver Toxicity Biomarker Study is a systems toxicology approach to discover biomarkers that are indicative of a drug's potential to cause human idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury. In phase I, the molecular effects in rat liver and blood plasma induced by tolcapone (a "toxic" drug) were compared with the molecular effects in the same tissues by dosing with entacapone (a "clean" drug, similar to tolcapone in chemical structure and primary pharmacological mechanism). Two durations of drug exposure, 3 and 28 days, were employed.

The liver toxicity biomarker study: phase I design and preliminary results.

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the primary adverse event that results in withdrawal of drugs from the market and a frequent reason for the failure of drug candidates in development. The Liver Toxicity Biomarker Study (LTBS) is an innovative approach to investigate DILI because it compares molecular events produced in vivo by compound pairs that (a) are similar in structure and mechanism of action, (b) are associated with few or no signs of liver toxicity in preclinical studies, and (c) show marked differences in hepatotoxic potential. The LTBS is a collaborative preclinical research effort in molecular systems toxicology between the National Center for Toxicological Research and BG Medicine, Inc.