Concern about Exposure to Menthol in eCigarettes during Pregnancy

Recent studies by Prue Talbot, a Professor of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology and ETOX faculty member, and Shabnam Etemadi, a bioengineering graduate student, have shown that concentrations of menthol, similar to those from exposure to cigarettes, adversely affect human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).  The effects occurred through activation of stress-related channels in the cells which, as described in a recent UCR News article, "led to inhibition of cell growth, increased cell death, and abnormal cell movement in the hESCs,” said Shabnam Etemadi, the first author of the research paper.  Our congratulations to Shabnam and Prue for this interesting and important work.  [The photo of Shabnam and Prue shown above is from the UCR News article.]