SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL CHAPTER of the Society of Toxicology

2018 Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TXMissionThe South Central Regional Chapter (SCC) of SOT serves academic,

government, and industrial toxicologists in a five state region,

including Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and western

Tennessee. The chapter has a strong history of supporting scientific

exchange among toxicologists and providing valuable training

opportunities to its membership.

2017-2018 Activities1. 2017 Fall Meeting at the University of Arkansas for Medical

Sciences (UAMS). The 2016 fall meeting was held at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, October 19-20, 2017.

2. 2018 Fall Meeting will be held at Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS in late October, 2017.

3. A Joint Reception at The National SOT Meeting, The 2018 South Central/Lone Star Regional Chapter Reception – on Monday, March 12th 5:00-7:00 pm at Yard House, 849 E. Commerce St, San Antonio, TX 78205.

4. Foster Research Training and Mentoring, at the 2017 National SOT Meeting, the event sponsored high school and middle school science fair and K-12 research workshops; provided technology transfer award for graduate students, provide mentoring of students and awards for presentation and travel to the Chapter Meeting.

2017 South Central Chapter’s Fall Meeting

The South Central Chapter’s 2017 Annual Meeting was held on October 19-20, 2016 in Little Rock, AR. The focus of this year’s meeting was “A K-12 Outreach – Introductionto Field of Toxicology”. The meeting was organized by Dr. Nan Mei (NCTR/FDA), Dr. Tammy Dugas (LSU School of Veterinary Medicine) and other SCC-SOT officers. Therewere five major activities associated with the meeting: (1) a networking reception; (2) two keynote speeches delivered by distinguished toxicologists: Dr. Brian Gullett (U.S.Environmental Protection Agency), and Dr. Lung-Chi Chen (Department of Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, New York University); (3) scientific platformpresentations; (4) the regional “K-12 outreach activity”; and (5) the poster sections for undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. There were near 100participants from 10 institutions around the south central region.

The meeting began with the welcome and mentor-mentee networking reception at Rotunda Auditorium, Energy, Coast & Environment Building, Louisiana State University.This was followed by the first Keynote Lecture delivered by the internationally recognized expert on inhalational toxicology Dr. Lung-Chi Chen entitled “World Trade CenterDisaster: Then and Now”. Two platform sessions with ten oral presentations from graduate students, postdoctoral fellows were followed by the second Keynote Lecturer byDr. Brian Gullett, Senior Research Engineer with Environmental Protections Agency’s Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory(Research Triangle Park, NC). Dr. Gulletts’s presentation entitled was entitled “Open Burning Sources of Air Pollution”. The Lectures were followed by the K-12 event thatwelcomed teachers and students from Baton Rouge Magnet High School, Glen Oaks High School, Scotlandville Magnet High School, and Southern Laboratory School.

SCC-SOT 2017 Poster SessionThe most anticipated event at the meeting for our students were the poster sessions, which included 29 posters covering a broad range of topics. Three of the posters werepresented by undergraduates; seventeen were presented by graduate students, who had been mentored by toxicologists from the region, and nine were presented bypostdoctoral fellow, technicians, or junior faculty.

The meeting was made possible by sponsorship from SOT, Louisiana State Unviersity, NCTR/FDA, UAMS, Charles River, BioTek, Sartorius, and VWR.

Awards for SCC Members at the 2017 SCC Fall Meeting

Support for the awards was generously provided by meeting sponsors

Toxicological Research Conducted by SCC MembersRonis MJJ, Pedersen KB, Watt J. Adverse Effects of Nutraceuticals and Dietary Supplements. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol. 2018 Jan 6;58:583-601. doi: 10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-010617-052844. Epub 2017 Oct 6. PubMed PMID: 28992429.

Miousse IR, Skinner CM, Lin H, Ewing LE, Kosanke SD, Williams DK, Avula B, Khan IA, ElSohly MA, Gurley BJ, Koturbash I. Safety assessment of the dietary supplement OxyELITE™ Pro (New Formula) in inbred and outbred mouse strains. Food Chem Toxicol. 2017 Nov;109(Pt 1):194-209. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2017.08.025. Epub 2017 Aug 24. PubMed PMID: 28843594

Chen S, Zhang Z, Qing T, Ren Z, Yu D, Couch L, Ning B, Mei N, Shi L, Tolleson WH, Guo L. Activation of the Nrf2 signaling pathway in usnic acid-induced toxicity in HepG2 cells. Arch Toxicol. 2017 Mar;91(3):1293-1307. doi: 10.1007/s00204-016-1775-y. Epub 2016 Jul 1. PubMed PMID: 27369375; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5727582

Dugas TR. Unraveling mechanisms of toxicant-induced oxidative stress in cardiovascular disease. Curr Opin Toxicol. 2018 Feb;7:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cotox.2017.10.007. Epub 2017 Oct 12. PubMed PMID: 29423456; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5798618.

Yu D, Wu L, Gill P, Tolleson WH, Chen S, Sun J, Knox B, Jin Y, Xiao W, Hong H, Wang Y, Ren Z, Guo L, Mei N, Guo Y, Yang X, Shi L, Chen Y, Zeng L, Dreval K, Tryndyak V, Pogribny I, Fang H, Shi T, McCullough S, Bhattacharyya S, Schnackenberg L, Mattes W, Beger RD, James L, Tong W, Ning B. Multiple microRNAs function as self-protective modules in acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in humans. Arch Toxicol. 2018 Feb;92(2):845-858. doi: 10.1007/s00204-017-2090-y. Epub 2017 Oct 24. PubMed PMID: 29067470; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5820133.

Lumen A, George NI. Evaluation of the risk of perchlorate exposure in a population of late-gestation pregnant women in the United States: Application of probabilistic biologically-based dose response modeling. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2017 May 1;322:9-14. doi: 10.1016/j.taap. 2017.02.021. Epub 2017 Mar 2. PubMed PMID: 28263825.

Mercer KE, Pulliam CF, Pedersen KB, Hennings L, Ronis MJ. Soy protein isolate inhibits hepatic tumor promotion in mice fed a high-fat liquid diet. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2017 Mar;242(6):635-644. doi: 10.1177/1535370216685436. Epub 2017 Jan 5. PubMed PMID: 28056552; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5685258.

Sridharan V, Seawright JW, Antonawich FJ, Garnett M, Cao M, Singh P, Boerma M. Late Administration of a Palladium Lipoic Acid Complex (POLY-MVA) Modifies Cardiac Mitochondria but Not Functional or Structural Manifestations of Radiation-Induced Heart Disease in a Rat Model. RadiatRes. 2017 Mar;187(3):361-366. doi: 10.1667/RR14643.1. Epub 2017 Feb 23. PubMed PMID: 28231026; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5483333

Miousse IR, Murphy LA, Lin H, Schisler MR, Sun J, Chalbot MG, Sura R, Johnson K, LeBaron MJ, Kavouras IG, Schnackenberg LK, Beger RD, Rasoulpour RJ, Koturbash I. Dose-response analysis of epigenetic, metabolic, and apical endpoints after short-term exposure to experimental hepatotoxicants. Food Chem Toxicol. 2017 Nov;109(Pt 1):690-702. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2017.05.013. Epub 2017 May 8. PubMed PMID: 28495587; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5656539.

Buntyn RW, Alugubelly N, Hybart RL, Mohammed AN, Nail CA, Parker GC, Ross MK, Carr RL. Inhibition of Endocannabinoid-Metabolizing Enzymes in Peripheral Tissues Following Developmental Chlorpyrifos Exposure in Rats. Int J Toxicol. 2017 Sep/Oct;36(5):395-402. doi: 10.1177/1091581817725272. Epub 2017 Aug 18. PubMed PMID: 28820005; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5585048.

Non-Student/Non-Faculty Poster Presentation

1. Ashlyn Harmon, Louisiana State University. Exposure to environmentally persistant free radiaclas leads to decreased vascular responsiveness.

2. Evangel Kummari, Mississippi State University. Effect of TCDD and high salt diet in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

3. Charles Skinner, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Assessment of liver toxicity and epigenotoxicity of the dietary supplement OxyELITE ProTM

Graduate Student Poster Presentation

1. Annapoorna Sreedhar, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center – Shreveport. UCP promotes tumorigenesis via regulating lipid signaling and PLCgamma-1 activity.

2. Brittany Szafran, Mississippi State University. Characterization of IL-6 levels and endocannabinoid metabolizing enzymes in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

3. Henry Palfrey, Southern University and A&M College. Development and validation of isotope dilution mass spectrometry method for quantification of oseltamivir carboxylate.

4. Navatha Alugubelly, Mississippi State University. Altered neuroproteins in adolescent rats induced by early developmemtal exposure to chlorpyrifos.

Under Graduate Student Poster Presentation

1. Anusha Zaman, Louisiana State University. Electronic cigarette aerosols induce adverse health effects in mice of reproductive age and offspring

2. Erin McDevitt, Mississippi State University. Effects of trans-nonachlor exposure on hepatocyte lipid accumulation and fatty acid synthase expression.

Non-Student/Non-Faculty Platform Presentation

1. Kathiresan Selvam, Louisiana State University. Overactive RAD26 represses transcription coupled DNA repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by promoting transcription bypass.

2. Zhen Ren, National Center for Toxicological Research. Endoplasmic reticulum stress and MAPK signaling pathway activation underlie leflunomide-induced toxicity in HEPG2 cells.

Graduate Student Platform Presentation

1. Yi-fan Chen, Louisiana State University. Chronic antiretroviral treatment disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis and induces mitochondrial genome instability to promote premature endothelial senescence.

2. Brandon W. Lewis, Louisiana State University. Early postnatal secondhand smoke exposure disrupts bacterial clearance and abolishes immune responses in muco-obstructive lung disease.

3. Gagandeep Kaur, Southern University and A&M College. DNA methylation and histone modifications during cigarette smoke exposure.

VICE PRESIDENTPritmohinder Gill, PhDUniversity of Arkansasfor Medical Sciences

SECRETARYJia-long Fang, PhDFDA/National Center forToxicological Research

PAST PRESIDENTNan Mei, PhDFDA/National Center forToxicological Research

COUNCILORAlexandra Noel, PhDLouisiana State University

PRESIDENTIgor Koturbash, MD, PhDUniversity of Arkansas forMedical Sciences

VICE PRESIDENT-ELECTRussell Carr, PhDMississippi State University

TREASURER Isabelle Miousse, PhDUniversity of Arkansas forMedical Sciences

COUNCILORGeorge (Trey) HowellMississippi State University

Newly-Elected SCC OfficersThe SCC of SOT is delighted to announce its Officers for 2017-2018