Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke during early postnatal period in rodents: implications for synaptic plasticity and the endocannabinoid system.

• Grant number: 13/12769-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: November 01, 2013
• End date: April 08, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - Toxicology
• Principal Investigator: Tania Marcourakis
• Grantee: Larissa Helena Lobo Torres Pacheco
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Several substances, such as ethanol, lead and nicotine, are neurotoxic to early postnatal brain development and may influence the cascade of events that characterizes this phase. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in early brain development and the possible consequences in adolescence and adulthood. The focus of this work is synaptic plasticity, which is the brain's ability to change as a result of experience, and the endocannabinoid system, which has been described as being involved in main stages of neural development and activity. Mice C57/BL will be exposed to a mixture of mainstream (10%) and sidestream (90%) smoke generated from 3R4F reference research cigarettes since 3rd (P3) to the 14th (P14) day of life, twice a day (one hour each exposure at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.). Animals (n=7) will be euthanized in P15 (childhood), P35 (adolescence) and P65 (adulthood). It will be quantified markers of synaptic and structural plasticity, as GluR1, GluR2/3, neurofilaments and MAP2, and enzymes and receptors of the endocannabinoid system, as CB1, CB2, NAPE-PLD, FAAH, and DAGL MAGL, in the hippocampus, cerebellum and striatum,. The project will combine several techniques such as immunoblotting, real-time PCR and immunofluorescence. Moreover, to evaluate the changes caused by exposure to ETS in a dynamic way, it will be used the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in a longitudinal study.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

TORRES, LARISSA HELENA; REAL, CAROLINE CRISTIANO; TURATO, WALTER MIGUEL; SPELTA, LIDIA WIAZOWSKI; CARDOSO DOS SANTOS DURAO, ANA CAROLINA; ANDRIOLI, TATIANA COSTA; POZZO, LORENA; SQUAIR, PETERSON LIMA; PISTIS, MARCO; FARIA, DANIELE DE PAULA; et al. Environmental Tobacco Smoke During the Early Postnatal Period of Mice Interferes With Brain (18) F-FDG Uptake From Infancy to Early Adulthood - A Longitudinal Study. FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE, v. 14, JAN 29 2020. (13/12769-7)

TORRES, LARISSA HELENA; BALESTRIN, NATALIA TRIGO; WIAZOWSKI SPELTA, LICLIA EMMANUELA; DURO, STEPHANIE DE OLIVEIRA; PISTIS, MARCO; MARCOURAKIS, TANIA. Exposure to tobacco smoke during the early postnatal period modifies receptors and enzymes of the endocannabinoid system in the brainstem and striatum in mice. Toxicology Letters, v. 302, p. 35-41, MAR 1 2019. (13/12769-7)