Human exposure to dithiocarbamates occurs in agriculture, industry and medicine. Although an understanding of degradative and metabolic pathways is evolving, there is currently little knowledge on the molecular targets and mechanisms underlying the biological affects of dithiocarbamates. The long-range objectives of this project are to delineate the interactions of dithiocarbamates and their metabolites within biological systems and to determine the relevance of these interactions as mechanisms of toxicity and biomarkers. Previous studies revealed the ability of certain dithiocarbamates to produce selective Schwann cell toxicity accompanied by increased levels of copper and lipid peroxidation products in nerve. Investigations in this application are guided by the working hypothesis that these dithiocarbamates bind endogenous copper, form lipophilic complexes and accumulate within myelin resulting in increased lipid peroxidation, oxidative injury and demyelination. This hypothesis will be tested through two specific aims: 1) To determine if copper accumulation and oxidative stress are required for dithiocarbamate-mediated segmental demyelination and 2) To determine the molecular targets and cellular responses in dithiocarbamate-mediated peripheral nerve demyelination.
Aim 1 will be achieved through: a) synthesis of dithiocarbamates differing in their affinity for copper and their copper complex solubility and evaluating their relative potency for lipid peroxidation and demyelination in vivo, b) determining the ability of the non-dithiocarbamate copper chelating agent, cuprizone, to elevate copper and lipid peroxidation in nerve, c) determining if lipid peroxidation and copper accumulation are direct affects of dithiocarbamates through defining the dose response and temporal relationship of these affects to the onset of myelin injury and d) determining if transgenic models with compromised defense to oxidative injury and copper toxicity are more sensitive to dithiocarbamate-mediated demyelination.
Aim 2 will be achieved through a) determining changes in protein expression, b) identifying damaged proteins, c) measuring cuproenzyme activities and d) characterizing the location and chemical species of excess copper produced in nerve by dithiocarbamates. The significance of these studies lies in establishing structure-activity relationships useful for predicting agents that may act through similar mechanisms, identifying susceptible populations, developing mechanistically based exposure recommendations and predicting the affects of long term low level exposures.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01ES006387-14
Application #
7208033
Study Section
Neurotoxicology and Alcohol Study Section (NAL)
Program Officer
Lawler, Cindy P
Project Start
1994-01-01
Project End
2010-02-28
Budget Start
2007-03-01
Budget End
2008-02-29
Support Year
14
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$394,144
Indirect Cost
Name
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Department
Pathology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
004413456
City
Nashville
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
37212
Valentine, Holly L; Viquez, Olga M; Valentine, William M (2010) Peripheral nerve and brain differ in their capacity to resolve N,N-diethyldithiocarbamate-mediated elevations in copper and oxidative injury. Toxicology 274:10-7
Viquez, Olga M; Lai, Barry; Ahn, Jae Hee et al. (2009) N,N-diethyldithiocarbamate promotes oxidative stress prior to myelin structural changes and increases myelin copper content. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 239:71-9
Valentine, Holly L; Viquez, Olga M; Amarnath, Kalyani et al. (2009) Nitrogen substituent polarity influences dithiocarbamate-mediated lipid oxidation, nerve copper accumulation, and myelin injury. Chem Res Toxicol 22:218-26
Valentine, William M; Abel, Ty W; Hill, Kristina E et al. (2008) Neurodegeneration in mice resulting from loss of functional selenoprotein P or its receptor apolipoprotein E receptor 2. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 67:68-77
Viquez, Olga M; Valentine, Holly L; Amarnath, Kalyani et al. (2008) Copper accumulation and lipid oxidation precede inflammation and myelin lesions in N,N-diethyldithiocarbamate peripheral myelinopathy. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 229:77-85
Viquez, Olga M; Valentine, Holly L; Friedman, David B et al. (2007) Peripheral nerve protein expression and carbonyl content in N,N-diethlydithiocarbamate myelinopathy. Chem Res Toxicol 20:370-9
Valentine, Holly L; Does, Mark D; Marshall, Vivian et al. (2007) Multicomponent T2 analysis of dithiocarbamate-mediated peripheral nerve demyelination. Neurotoxicology 28:645-54
Valentine, Holly; Amarnath, Kalyani; Amarnath, Venkataraman et al. (2007) Globin s-propyl cysteine and urinary N-acetyl-S-propylcysteine as internal biomarkers of 1-bromopropane exposure. Toxicol Sci 98:427-35
Valentine, Holly L; Amarnath, Kalyani; Amarnath, Venkataraman et al. (2006) Dietary copper enhances the peripheral myelinopathy produced by oral pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate. Toxicol Sci 89:485-94
Valentine, William M; Hill, Kristina E; Austin, Lori M et al. (2005) Brainstem axonal degeneration in mice with deletion of selenoprotein p. Toxicol Pathol 33:570-6

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