1. Exploring BPA alternatives : environmental levels and toxicity reviewOndrej Adamovsky, Ksenia J Groh, Anna Białk-Bielińska, Beate I. Escher, R. Beaudouin, Liadys Mora Lagares, K. E. Tollefsen, Alja Štern, Tina Eleršek, Marjan Vračko, Bojana Žegura, 2024, review article Abstract: Bisphenol A alternatives are manufactured as potentially less harmful substitutes of bisphenol A (BPA) that offer similar functionality. These alternatives are already in the market, entering the environment and thus raising ecological concerns. However, it can be expected that levels of BPA alternatives will dominate in the future, they are limited information on their environmental safety. The EU PARC project highlights BPA alternatives as priority chemicals and consolidates information on BPA alternatives, with a focus on environmental relevance and on the identification of the research gaps. The review highlighted aspects and future perspectives. In brief, an extension of environmental monitoring is crucial, extending it to cover BPA alternatives to track their levels and facilitate the timely implementation of mitigation measures. The biological activity has been studied for BPA alternatives, but in a non-systematic way and prioritized a limited number of chemicals. For several BPA alternatives, the data has already provided substantial evidence regarding their potential harm to the environment. We stress the importance of conducting more comprehensive assessments that go beyond the traditional reproductive studies and focus on overlooked relevant endpoints. Future research should also consider mixture effects, realistic environmental concentrations, and the long-term consequences on biota and ecosystems. Keywords: BPA alternatives, biological activity, in silico, invertebrates, vertebrates, toxicity Published in DiRROS: 03.06.2024; Views: 3; Downloads: 3 Full text (1,64 MB) This document has many files! More... |
2. Genotoxicity and heating performance of VxFe3-xO4 nanoparticles in health applicationsBeatriz Sanz-Sagué, Amaia Sáenz-Hernández, Bojana Žegura, Alja Štern, Katja Kološa, Iza Rozman, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: The applications of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as biocatalysts in different biomedical areas have been evolved very recently. One of the main challenges in this field is to design affective MNPs surfaces with catalytically active atomic centres, while producing minimal toxicological side effects on the hosting cell or tissues. MNPs of vanadium spinel ferrite (VFe2O4) are a promising material for mimicking the action of natural enzymes in degrading harmful substrates due to the presence of active V5+ centres. However, the toxicity of this material has not been yet studied in detail enough to grant biomedical safety. In this work, we have extensively measured the structural, compositional, and magnetic properties of a series of VxFe3-xO4 spinel ferrite MNPs to assess the surface composition and oxidation state of V atoms, and also performed systematic and extensive in vitro cytotoxicity and genotoxicity testing required to assess their safety in potential clinical applications. We could establish the presence of V5+ at the particle surface even in water-based colloidal samples at pH 7, as well as different amounts of V2+ and V3+ substitution at the A and B sites of the spinel structure. All samples showed large heating efficiency with Specific Loss Power values up to 400 W/g (H0 = 30 kA/m; f = 700 kHz). Samples analysed for safety in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cell line with up to 24h of exposure showed that these MNPs did not induce major genomic abnormalities such as micronuclei, nuclear buds, or nucleoplasmic bridges (MNIs, NBUDs, and NPBs), nor did they cause DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) or aneugenic effects—types of damage considered most harmful to cellular genetic material. The present study is an essential step towards the use of these type of nanomaterials in any biomedical or clinical application. Keywords: magnetic nanoparticles, vanadium ferrite, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, specific power absorption, cell viability Published in DiRROS: 23.05.2024; Views: 74; Downloads: 72 Full text (8,91 MB) This document has many files! More... |
3. Accelerated drought-induced resilience decline across European forestsAllan Buras, Benjamin Meyer, Konstantin Gregor, Lucia Layritz, Jernej Jevšenak, Christian Zang, Anja Rammig, 2024, published scientific conference contribution abstract Keywords: Europe, drought, forest, Europe Published in DiRROS: 14.05.2024; Views: 123; Downloads: 114 Full text (54,29 KB) This document has many files! More... |
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8. Recombinant human erythropoietin alters gene expression and stimulates proliferation of MCF-7 breast cancer cellsNina Trošt, Tina Stepišnik, Sabina Berne, Anja Pucer Janež, Toni Petan, Radovan Komel, Nataša Debeljak, 2013, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: Background. Functional erythropoietin (EPO) signaling is not specific only to erythroid lineages and has been confirmed in several solid tumors, including breast. Three different isoforms of erythropoietin receptor (EPOR) have been reported, the soluble (EPOR-S) and truncated (EPOR-T) forms acting antagonistically to the functional EPOR. In this study, we investigated the effect of human recombinant erythropoietin (rHuEPO) on cell proliferation, early gene response and the expression of EPOR isoforms in the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line.Materials and methods. The MCF-7 cells were cultured with or without rHuEPO for 72 h or 10 weeks and assessed for their growth characteristics, expression of early response genes and different EPOR isoforms. The expression profile of EPOR and EPOR-T was determined in a range of breast cancer cell lines and compared with their invasive properties.Results. MCF-7 cell proliferation after rHuEPO treatment was dependent on the time of treatment and the concentration used. High rHuEPO concentrations (40 U/ml) stimulated cell proliferation independently of a preceding long-term exposure of MCF-7 cells to rHuEPO, while lower concentrations increased MCF-7 proliferation only after 10 weeks of treatment. Gene expression analysis showed activation of EGR1 and FOS, confirming the functionality of EPOR. rHuEPO treatment also slightly increased the expression of the functional EPOR isoform, which, however, persisted throughout the 10 weeks of treatment. The expression levels of EPOR-T were not influenced. There were no correlations between EPOR expression and the invasiveness of MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, Hs578T, Hs578Bst, SKBR3, T-47D and MCF-10A cell lines.Conclusions. rHuEPO modulates MCF-7 cell proliferation in time- and concentration-dependent manner. We confirmed EGR1, FOS and EPOR as transcription targets of the EPO-EPOR signaling loop, but could not correlate the expression of different EPOR isoforms with the invasiveness of breast cancer cell lines. Keywords: breast cancer, erythropoietin, gene expression Published in DiRROS: 22.03.2024; Views: 294; Downloads: 74 Full text (850,15 KB) This document has many files! More... |
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10. Metal–support interaction between titanium oxynitride and Pt nanoparticles enables efficient low-Pt-loaded high-performance electrodes at relevant oxygen reduction reaction current densitiesArmin Hrnjić, Ana Rebeka Kamšek, Lazar Bijelić, Anja Logar, Nik Maselj, Milutin Smiljanić, Jan Trputec, Natan Vovk, Luka Pavko, Francisco Ruiz-Zepeda, Marjan Bele, Primož Jovanovič, Nejc Hodnik, 2024, original scientific article Published in DiRROS: 04.03.2024; Views: 199; Downloads: 80 Full text (1,90 MB) This document has many files! More... |