Consumption of tomato products has been associated with decreased risk of some cancer types, and the tomato antioxidant, lycopene, is thought to play an important role in the observed health effects. In this study, four carotenoids, trans-lycopene, phytofluene, phytoene, and zeta-carotene, were quantified in tomato products. Samples of raw tomatoes, tomato juice after hot break scalder, and final paste were obtained from two different processing plants over two years. Comparison of carotenoid levels throughout processing indicated that lycopene losses during processing of tomatoes into final paste (25-30 degrees Brix) ranged from 9 to 28%. The initial Brix level of the raw tomatoes appeared to influence the amount of lycopene loss that occurred, possibly due to the differences in processing time required to achieve the final desired Brix level of the paste. In general, no consistent changes in the other carotenoids were observed as a function of processing. The antioxidant activity of fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, and three fractions obtained from these products (i.e., aqueous, methanol, and hexane fractions) was also determined. In both a free radical quenching assay and a singlet oxygen quenching assay, significant antioxidant activity was found in both the hexane fraction (containing lycopene) and the methanol fraction, which contained the phenolic antioxidants caffeic and chlorogenic acid. The results suggest that in addition to lycopene, polyphenols in tomatoes may also be important in conferring protective antioxidative effects.

Naphthalene is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant that results in dose-dependent and tissue-, species-, and cell-selective necrosis of murine Clara cells upon exposure. Naphthalene is metabolized by CYP2F to a 1,2-epoxide, the first and obligate step in events leading to cytotoxicity. The studies reported here examine the relationship between levels of transcript (mRNA) and CYP2F protein in the respiratory tract of rodents with tissue susceptibility to injury. In both mice and rats, the lung contains more CYP2F transcript than liver; levels in kidney were undetectable. Mice expressed 4-and 8-fold greater CYP2F transcript in lung and liver tissue, respectively, than rats. Quantitative immunoblot blot analysis of CYP2F in airway subcompartments revealed mice to have 30-(minor daughters/terminal bronchioles), 20-(major daughter), 40-(trachea), and 6-(parenchyma) fold higher levels of CYP2F protein than rats. Within the lungs of both rodent species, the highest CYP2F expression was found in the distal airways. The kidney contained undetectable amounts of CYP2F; multiple immunoreactive bands in liver precluded quantification. The olfactory epithelium contains the greatest amount of cytochrome P450 protein of all tissues studied in the rat, consistent with the observed pattern of in vivo injury. Overall, these studies in rodents demonstrate a strong association between CYP2F expression levels and susceptibility to naphthalene-induced cytotoxicity. Of all primate tissues studied, only the nasal ethmoturbinates contain quantifiable amounts of CYP2F, roughly 10-and 20-fold less than the corresponding tissues in rats and mice, respectively. These results suggest that rhesus macaques may be refractory to naphthalene-induced pulmonary injury.The environmental toxicant naphthalene can be found in ambient air, ground water, sidestream and mainstream cigarette smoke, and byproducts from the combustion of diesel fuel (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 1995). The toxicological assessment of naphthalene has been the focus of extensive research, and the results of the National Toxicology Program 2-year inhalation studies in mice and rats have found naphthalene to be associated with neoplasia in both species. The inhalation study in mice demonstrated slightly increased incidences of alveolar/bronchiolar adenomas only in females at the highest dose (30 ppm, 156 mg/m 3 ) (National Toxicology Program, 1992). In rats, however, neoplasms were confined to the nasal respiratory epithelium, and the incidences were dose-dependent (National Toxicology Program, 2000). Previous work has shown that inhalation of naphthalene vapor at levels of 2 ppm (10.5 mg/m 3 ) and above leads to necrosis of murine pulmonary bronchiolar epithelial cells (West et al., 2001). This exposure concentration is considerably less than the current Occupational Health & Safety Administration exposure standard of 10 ppm (52 mg/m 3 ) for an 8-h time-weighted average. These and other data were employed in the recent International Agency for R...

Airway epithelial cells are a susceptible site for injury by ambient air toxicants such as naphthalene that undergo P450-dependent metabolic activation. The metabolism of naphthalene in Clara cells to reactive intermediates that bind covalently to proteins correlates with cell toxicity. Although several proteins adducted by reactive naphthalene metabolites were identified in microsomal incubations, new methods that maintain the structural integrity of the lung are needed to examine protein targets. Therefore, we developed a method that involves inflation of the lungs via the trachea with medium containing (14)C-naphthalene followed by incubation in situ. The viability of this preparation is supported by maintenance of glutathione levels, rates of naphthalene metabolism, and exclusion of ethidium homodimer-1 from airway epithelium. Following in situ incubation, the levels of adduct per milligram of protein were measured in proteins obtained from bronchoalveolar lavage, epithelial cells, and remaining lung. The levels of adducted proteins obtained in lavage and epithelial cells were similar and were 20-fold higher than those in residual lung tissue. (14)C-Labeled adducted proteins were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) and quadrupole-TOF MS/MS. Major adducted proteins include cytoskeletal proteins, proteins involved in folding and translocation, ATP synthase, extracellular proteins, redox proteins, and selenium binding proteins. We conclude that in situ incubation maintains structural integrity of the lung while allowing examination of reactive intermediate activation and interaction with target cell proteins of the lung. The proteins adducted and identified from in situ incubations were not the same proteins identified from microsomal incubations.

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Formation of a stable covalent bond between a synthetic probe molecule and a specific site on a target protein has many potential applications in biomedical science. For example, the properties of probes used as receptor-imaging ligands may be improved by increasing their residence time on the targeted receptor. Among the more interesting cases are peptide ligands, the strongest of which typically bind to receptors with micromolar dissociation constants, and which may depend on processes other than simple binding to provide images. The side chains of cysteine, histidine, or lysine are attractive for chemical attachment to improve binding to a receptor protein, and a system based on acryloyl probes attaching to engineered cysteine provides excellent positron emission tomographic images in animal models (Wei et al. (2008) J. Nucl. Med. 49, 1828-1835). In nature, lysine is a more common but less reactive residue than cysteine, making it an interesting challenge to modify. To seek practically useful cross-linking yields with naturally occurring lysine side chains, we have explored not only acryloyl but also other reactive linkers with different chemical properties. We employed a peptide-VEGF model system to discover that a 19mer peptide ligand, which carried a lysine-tagged dinitrofluorobenzene group, became attached stably and with good yield to a unique lysine residue on human vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), even in the presence of 70% fetal bovine serum. The same peptide carrying acryloyl and related Michael acceptors gave low yields of attachment to VEGF, as did the chloroacetyl peptide.

Physiologic intakes of specific dietary polyphenols, such as catechin, may play an important role in cancer chemoprevention. Wines have different polyphenol concentrations and compositions; therefore, the overall health benefits of individual wines differ.

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