Elevated 5-hydroxymethycytosine and cell apoptosis induced by tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone in mouse embryonic stem cells

<正>Pentachlorophenol(PCP)has been extensively used as a fungicide,bactericide,herbicide,molluscicide。algaecide and insecticide worldwide(Ahlborg and Thunberg,1980:Choudhury et al.,1986).Although PCP is primarily used as a preservative for wood and wood products,it has been also used in a variety of other products,including adhesives,construction materials,leather and paper.PCP is environmentally persistent with a half-life of up to 6-7 months in soil and water systems(Law     

Assessment of Bisphenol A (BPA) neurotoxicity in vitro with mouse embryonic stem cells

The adverse effects of environmental pollution on our well-being have been intensively studied with many in vitro and in vivo systems. In our group, we focus on stem cell toxicology due to the multitude of embryonic stem cell (ESC) properties which can be exerted in toxicity assays. In fact, ESCs can differentiate in culture to mimic embryonic development in vivo, or specifically to virtually any kind of somatic cells. Here, we used the toxicant Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical known as a hazard to infants and children, and showed that our stem cell toxicology system was able to efficiently recapitulate most of the toxic effects of BPA previously detected by in vitro system or animal tests. More precisely, we demonstrated that BPA affected the proper specification of germ layers during our in vitro mimicking of the embryonic development, as well as the establishment of neural ectoderm and neural progenitor cells.