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After particulate matter (PM) collection in Cotonou (Benin), a complete physicochemical characterization of PM2.5 and PM>2.5 was led. Then, their adverse health effects were evaluated by using in vitro culture of human lung cells. BEAS-2B (bronchial epithelial cells) were intoxicated during short-term exposure at increasing PM concentrations (1.5–96 μg/cm2) to determine global cytotoxicity. Hence, cells were exposed to 3 and 12 μg/cm2 to investigate the potential biological imbalance generated by PM toxicity. Our findings showed the ability of both PM to induce oxidative stress and to cause inflammatory cytokines/chemokines gene expression and secretion. Furthermore, PM were able to induce gene expression of enzymes involved in the xenobiotic metabolism pathway. Strong correlations between gene expression of metabolizing enzymes, proinflammatory responses and cell cycle alteration were found, as well as between proinflammatory responses and cell viability. Stress oxidant parameters were highly correlated with expression and protein secretion of inflammatory mediators. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Retinoic acid receptors (RARs) are ligand-regulated transcription factors controlling cellular proliferation and differentiation. Receptor-interacting proteins such as corepressors and coactivators play a crucial role in specifying the overall transcriptional activity of the receptor in response to ligand treatment. Little is known however on how receptor activity is controlled by intermediary factors which interact with RARs in a ligand-independent manner. Results: We have identified the promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger protein (PLZF), a transcriptional corepressor, to be a RAR-interacting protein using the yeast two-hybrid assay. We confirmed this interaction by GST-pull down assays and show that the PLZF N-terminal zinc finger domain is necessary and sufficient for PLZF to bind RAR. The RAR ligand binding domain displayed the highest affinity for PLZF, but corepressor and coactivator binding interfaces did not contribute to PLZF recruitment. The interaction was ligand-independent and correlated to a decreased transcriptional activity of the RXR-RAR heterodimer upon overexpression of PLZF. A similar transcriptional interference could be observed with the estrogen receptor alpha and the glucocorticoid receptor. We further show that PLZF is likely to act by preventing RXR-RAR heterodimerization, both in-vitro and in intact cells. Conclusion: Thus RAR and PLZF interact physically and functionally. Intriguingly, these two transcription factors play a determining role in hematopoiesis and regionalization of the hindbrain and may, upon chromosomal translocation, form fusion proteins. Our observations therefore define a novel mechanism by which RARs activity may be controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]