Article Sidebar
Published:
Sep 9, 2014DOI:
10.4314/tjpr.v13i5.6Keywords:
Article Details
Submission of a manuscript to this journal is a representation that the manuscript has not been published previously and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
All authors named in each manuscript would be required to sign a form (to be supplied by the Editor) so that they may retain their copyright in the article but to assign to us (the Publishers) and its licensees in perpetuity, in all forms, formats and media (whether known or created in the future) to (i) publish, reproduce, distribute, display and store the contribution, (ii) translate the contribution into other languages, create adaptations, reprints, include within collections and create summaries, extracts and/or abstracts of the contribution, (iii) create any other derivative works(s) based on the contribution, (iv) to exploit all subsidiary rights in the contribution, (v) the inclusion of electronic links from the contribution to third party material where-ever it may be located, and (vi) license any thrid party to do any or all of the above.
Main Article Content
Assessment of the Developmental Toxicity of Epidermal Growth Factor using Embryonic Stem Cell Test
Abstract
Purpose: To determine whether epidermal growth factor (EGF) is involved in reproductive developmental toxicity, using the embryonic stem cell test (EST), as well as ascertain how EGF influences embryonic development.
Methods: To predict developmental toxicity on the basis of reducing cell viability and inhibition of differentiation of embryonic stem cells, EST was used to assess changes in different blastodermic genes and expression of proteins including ectodermal-specific genes Pax6, NF-H and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), mesodermal-specific genes BMP4, GATA4, and MyoD, and endodermal-specific genes, viz, α-fetoprotein, transthyretin (TTR), and albumin, as well as undifferentiated genes, Nanog and Oct4.
Results: The results indicate that EGF was weakly embryotoxic with IC50ESC (i.e., the concentration that reduced ESC viability by 50 %), IC503T3 (the concentration that reduced 3T3 cell viability by 50 %), and ID50ESC (the concentration that inhibited differentiation of ESC by 50 %) of 6.773, 10.531, and 1.793 μg/mL, respectively. The expression levels of tissue-specific genes of the three germ layers were mainly promoted by 0.01 - 1 μg/mL EGF. Distinctively, relatively high concentrations of EGF caused a discordant effect on the three germ layers. High concentrations of EGF promoted differentiation of the ectoderm and mesoderm, and either inhibited or had mostly no impact on the endoderm.
Conclusion: The imbalance of the three layer-specific genes and expression of proteins, as a result of EGF, might be responsible for its weak level of developmental toxicity. The sensitivity of TTR means that further investigation is required to determine whether it can be used as an embryotoxicity biomarker for growth factors.
Keywords: Embryonic stem cell test, Epidermal growth factor, Developmental toxicity, Germ layers, Blastodermic genes, Protein expression
