UAEU PROJECT REVEALS THE IMPACT OF DIESEL EXHAUST ON GASTRIC STEM CELLS Researchers at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) have shed new light on the impact of environmental toxins on gastrointestinal stem cells. Their findings, published in the reputed journal Life, determined that gastric stem cells are able to resist oxidative stress and programmed cell death when exposed to relatively high levels of diesel exhaust particles, but at the expense of their unique stem cell properties. The research, conducted by Dr. Sherif Karam, Dr. Abdulrahim Nammar, Dr. Samir Atoub, Master’s student Heba Al-Siddiq, and PhD student Subi Sugathan, has contributed to a better understanding of the impact of environmental pollution on the cells, which is linked to gastric cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide. The findings could
even play a role in the development of disease treatment. The research team conducted their experiments on a mouse gastric stem cell line established in UAEU’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences laboratory. The experiments involved adding increasing quantities of diesel exhaust particles to the stem cells over a period of 72 hours. The cells were then examined for oxidative stress, motility, and reproduction, in addition to the activity of genes associated with their reproduction, their ability to transform into other cells, and programmed cell death. The experiment’s intriguing findings revealed that diesel particles only cause cell activity to decrease at a high concentration of 100 micrograms per milliliter. While the exposure does not affect cell mobility, oxidative stress markers or the proteins or genes associated with cell death, it was found to decrease the production of Notch and BMI-1 – which play a role in the progression of cancer – and the activation of STAT3, which stem cells use to regulate their transformation into other cells.
Source: https://www.uaeu.ac.ae/en/news/2021/jan/uaeu-research-effect-of-automobile-exhaust-on-gastric-stem-cells.shtml
