MOLECULAR "START": THE ACTIVATION OF THE ESTROGENIC PATHWAY IN HUMAN BRONCHIAL EPITHELIUM CELLS OF THE BEAS-2B LINE EXPOSED TO HPAs WITH STRUCTURAL SIMILARITIES TO ESTRADIOL

• Grant number: 23/12483-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2024
• End date: March 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Mariangela Macchione
• Grantee: Gabriela Carvalho Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Air pollution is the one of main factors of adversities in human respiratory health. Among the pollutants most present in air pollution, diesel particulate matter (DPM) has the great ability to adsorb substances such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These PAHs have an ability to adjust estrogen hormones that can act on the estrogen hormone pathway, as well as being metabolized by the xenobiotic (arylhydrocarbon) pathway. The action of PAHs in the estrogen pathway may increase female predisposition to chronic respiratory diseases. Therefore, this study aims to identify how the activation of estrogen hormone pathway transcription factors (ERE) in human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) will occur upon exposure to PAHs molecules (pyrene, chrysene and phenanthrene) more structurally similar to estradiol.