Woo and Zhao Receive Dissertation Completion Fellowships

ETOX students Wonsik Woo and Ting Zhao were awarded Dissertation Completion Fellowships by the UCR Graduate Division.  The awards provide stipend and partial tuition support to help students compels their doctoral dissertations.  A list of this year's recipients can be found on the Inside UCR website. We congratulate Wonsik and Ting, and wish them success as they work to complete their degree.  

ETOX Graduate Student Association Hosts Tox Squad Outreach Event

The Environmental Toxicology Graduate Student Association is hosting an outreach event on Tuesday, Jan. 20 from 5 to 6:30 pm at the Student Recreation Center for K-12 students. The event is entitled Tox Squad and will engage the students in solving a toxic mystery.  We hope it is an enjoyable success.  [The screenshot above is from an ETOX miniGSA Instagram post.]

New Type of DNA Adduct found in Mitochondrial DNA

A new study led by Linlin Zhao, Professor of Chemistry and Director of the ETOX program, that also involved Professors Yinsheng Wang and Chia-En Chang, two other ETOX faculty members and other students and collaborators, identified a previously unknown type of DNA damage within the mitochondria.  It is believed that the newly identified glutathionylated DNA adducts may provide insights into how our bodies sense and respond to stress. The study was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and was spotlighted in a UCR News article. This work builds upon earlier work conducted by an earlier ETOX graduate student Jiakei Yin and his advisor Yinsheng Wang in which they had identified GSH-DNA adducts in nuclear DNA.  Our congratulations to Linlin, Yinsheng, Chia-En and their collaborators for this important research advance. [The figures above are from their PNAS article.]

Professor Zhou and Colleagues Identify Important RNA Molecule Involved in Cardiovascular Health

A research team led by  Chengchang Zhou, Professor of Biomedical Sciences and an ETOX faculty member has identified a small transfer RNA-derived RNA that plays a major role in controlling cholesterol production within the body and likely plays a role in the development of heart disease.  Their work was recently published in the journal Nature Communications as was the focus of a recent UCR News article.  As described in in a , "the molecule, named tsRNA-Glu-CTC, could be a potential new target for future therapies aimed at lowering high cholesterol." Our congratulations to Chengchang and his colleagues for this important discovery which may open new therapeutic avenues understanding and treating cardio metabolic diseases.  [The figure above is from their Nature Communications article.]

Second Eco-NAMS Webinar on Predicting Acute Fish Toxicity

The information below was received from ETOX alumnus Wesley Hunter, a branch chief at the US FDA. 

The second webinar on the use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in ecotoxicology will be held in January 28 at 8 to 9:30 am (East Coast time). The topic is "Gill Cell Line Assay for Acute Fish Toxicity Prediction." It is free and open to the public but there will be a limit of 500 people, so those interested should register early. The first Eco-NAM webinar had almost 1000 registrants. The presentation will be recorded, so it will be possible to watch it afterwards if one is not able to attend the live event. More information on FDA’s work on implementing new alternative methodologies can be found here: Implementing Alternative Methods | FDA.

Toxic Aldehydes Formed in e-Cigarette Vapor

Prue Talbot, a Professor of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology and an ETOX faculty member, and Man Wong, a Genetics graduate student, have investigated the toxicity of methylglyoxal and acetaldehyde in human bronchial epithelial tissues.  Both of these compounds are formed during the vaping of liquids containing propylene glycol.  Their results, recently published in the journal Frontiers of Toxicology, showed that these chemicals altered the proteome of the respiratory cells affecting key pathways "including mitochondrial dysfunction, fatty acid metabolism, G2/M DNA damage checkpoint regulation, and mitochondrial biogenesis." Their work was recently highlighted in UCR News.  Our congratulations to Prue and Man for this recognition of their work.   

Happy Holidays from Riverside, California

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  We hope you are having an enjoyable holiday wherever you may be.  Above is a highly decorated house in the Mission Grove area of Riverside.