• MECHANISMS •
A Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology
Volume 24 Number 1Fall, 2006
A Message From the President
Kenneth S. Ramos
The Mechanisms Specialty Section has much to celebrate! Mechanisms holds the distinction of being SOT’s first specialty section and in 2007 we will celebrate our silver anniversary. Members of the specialty section continue to make great strides in our understanding of mechanisms of toxicity and their contributions to health and disease. Major technological advances continue to fuel accelerated growth in toxicology and mechanisms-based investigations continue to dominate the landscape of toxicological studies. Our Carl C. Smith Graduate Student Award is the first of its kind, and our endowment has paved the way for society-wide efforts to advance its endowment programs. In July, the Society held its second annual meeting of Specialty Section Leadership. We were represented by Gary Rankinwho provided a summary report in this newsletter. Please contact members of the Executive Committee to discuss issues that you consider to be important for continued success of our section.
In 2005, President Ken Wallace constituted three task forces to help craft a strategic plan for the future of the Society. The Science Strategy Committee is charged with developing and advising SOT Council of a strategy to most effectively promote the advancement of the science of toxicology through enhancing the perception of toxicology as a vital and fundamental science and broadening its visibility to our members and other key stakeholders. The Communications Strategy Committee is charged to develop a strategic plan to help SOT communicate more effectively to targeted audiences, the value of both toxicology as a science and SOT as a scientific society. A third Committee is charged with developing a strategic plan for the Society that best serves the individual and professional needs of its members, across all sectors of employment, career stage, gender, and ethnicity. These task forces are now formulating preliminary reports to be discussed at the annual meeting. It will be important for Mechanisms members to be actively involved in this process. These strategic plans will be particularly important for members who continue to face the challenges posed by declining resources for toxicology oriented research. We must remain vigilant of the process so that our own standing can be maximized and we can help nurture the growth of the field.
The Executive Committee will be meeting in January to develop the 2008 scientific program in Seattle. Please begin to think about your submissions and contact Gary Rankin with questions that may arise as you develop your applications. Be sure to nominate your students for Specialty Section awards. The awards program nurtures the next generation of Mechanisms leadership in the Society. It is through the Society’s award competitions that seeds of research interests germinate. If you want to generate enthusiasm and get your students committed to the field of toxicology, give them the SOT experience. Fifteen minutes to register your nomination will reap years of benefit for your students, your program, and our specialty section. Go to now. The deadline for nominations is Monday, October 9, 2006.
I invite you to explore the exciting opportunities for scientific exchange and growth offered by the Specialty Section.
Start Thinking Mechanisms Symposia, Workshops and Continuing Education Courses!
Gary O. Rankin
It is not too early to begin thinking about submitting a symposium, workshop or continuing education course for the 2008 Society of Toxicology meeting to be held in Seattle, Washington. The Mechanisms Specialty Section has a long history of sponsoring high quality programs, and we would be glad to work with you as you prepare your proposals.
The process begins with you picking a timely topic and developing that concept into a program, such as a symposium or workshop. Examples of the various types of proposals can be found on the SOT website under the “Forms and Applications” link on the left sidebar. As part of the submission process (Step 4), you can select the Specialty Section that you would like to sponsor the submission. Please consider having your proposal sponsored by the Mechanisms Specialty Section. Submissions will be due around the end of April, 2007. However, if I, or other officers, in Mechanisms can help you during the process, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
From the Editor’s Desk
Joan Tarloff
As we move into Fall, I take this opportunity to remind everyone of some important deadlines and awards that are available through the Mechanisms Specialty section. As Secretary/Treasurer of the Mechanisms Specialty Section, I am open to any suggestions to improve the newsletter and other means of communication. Please send any critiques and/or comments to me ().
Some special reminders:
- Please make sure that your graduate students sign up for student membership in the Mechanisms Specialty Section. Student membership in SOT includes one free Specialty Section membership. Additional Student Specialty Section dues are $15 per Specialty Section.
- When you give a donation to the Carl C. Smith Fund, please e-mail me () with your contribution amount. This helps the Specialty Section keep an accurate account of the annual donations to this fund. Thank you in advance for your support! There are many quality students that have benefited from your contributions.
- The Mechanisms Specialty Section is pleased to announce that travel awards for postdoctoral fellows will be available for the 2007 SOT meeting. The Merck postdoctoral travel award of $500 will be given to two (2) individuals. Please read more information regarding eligibility and deadlines in this newsletter.
In this issue, you will find a report on our 2006 Mechanisms Specialty Section Business meeting that includes a list of the winners and judges for the 2006 Carl C. Smith Graduate Student Awards. Information on requirements, deadlines, etc. is also provided for the 2007 Carl C. Smith Graduate Student Awards. These awards are one way of recognizing the excellence of our students’ research efforts, so please consider having your students apply. We are fortunate to have Tee Smith lending her interest, energy and continued support to these awards.
Summary of the Mechanisms Specialty Section Business Meeting
The Business Meeting of the Mechanisms Specialty Section was held Monday, March 6th at the San DiegoConvention Center.
The meeting was called to order by President Dr. Dan Liebler at 6:20 PM. He welcomed all in attendance and introduced the officers in attendance: Dr. Serrine Lau, Past President; Dr. Ken Ramos, Vice-President; Dr. Dean Jones, Vice President-Elect; Dr. Monica Valentovic, Secretary/Treasurer; Dr. Dennis Petersen, Senior Councilor; Dr. Qin Chen Junior Councilor; Adrian Nanez, Student Councilor.
Secretary/Treasurer Monica Valentovic gave the Financial Report for the General Budget and Carl Smith Fund. She indicated that the balance January 1, 2006 was $22,923 and that based on projections of income from interest, dues and meeting income the estimated balance will be $30,505. Projected expenses from the meeting, plaques, non-labor expenses and miscellaneous expense was estimated at $5,250. The Mechanisms income at the end of the fiscal year should be ~$26,000. The Carl Smith fund beginning January 1, 2006 had a balance of $48,302 and has generated an interest of $ 2,454 along with a current contribution level of $700 for an estimated total of $51, 544. The estimated cost for plaques was $1,800.
Dan Liebler reviewed the symposia, workshops and Continuing Education courses sponsored by the Mechanisms Specialty Section at the 2006 Annual Meeting. Dan indicated that Mechanisms is sponsoring fewer programs than in the past but this may be due to the online submission process. He indicated that Mechanisms is sponsoring or co-sponsored 3 continuing education courses, two workshops and ten symposia.
Continuing Education Courses
Use of Genome Databases for Toxicology. Chairperson William B. Mattes, Gene Logic Inc., Gaithersburg, MD.
Essentials of Metal Toxicology. Chairpersons Wei Zheng, PurdueUniversity, West Lafayette, IN and Michael P. Waalkes, NIEHS, Research Triangle Park, NC.
Functional Analysis of Gene and Protein Expression: From Experimental Design to Data Analysis. Chairperson Richard S. Pollenz, University of SouthFlorida, Tampa, FL
Workshops
MONDAY AM March 6
Towards the Virtual Human: Adding more Physiological Detail to Biologically-Based Models. Chairpersons Robert DeWoskin, USEPA, Research Triangle Park, NC and Torka Poet, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richmond, WA
TUESDAY AM March 7
Comprehensive Responses of Lipid Classes to Toxicants and Involvement in Diseases. Chairpersons Michael Madden, USEPA, Chapel Hill, NC and Ronald Riley, USDA, Athens, GA
Symposia
MONDAY PM March 6
Advancing Toxicology by Improving Linkage of Traditional Toxicity and Pathology Endpoints with Toxicogenomics. Chairpersons Ivan Rusyn, University of North Caroline Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC and Richard Paules, NIEHS, Research Triangle Park, NC
Mode of Action Associated with Induction of Endothelial Cell Tumors – Hemangiosarcoma. Chairpersons David Pegg, Pfizer Global Research & Development, Ann Arbor, MI and Brian Short, Allergan Inc., Irvine, CA
New Insights into Mechanisms of Cell Death and Survival. Chairpersons John Robertson, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS and Shawn Bratton, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
TUESDAY AM March 7
Role of Mitochondria in Toxic Oxidative Stress. Chairpersons Marc Fariss, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO and Manisha Patel, University of Colorado, Denver, CO
WEDNESDAY AM March 8
Gene-Nutrient-Environment-Interactions as Risk Factors for Birth Defects: Fumonisin, Folate, Genetic Variation and Neural Tube Defects. Chairpersons Janee Gelineau-Waes, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE and Ronald Riley, USDA, Athens, GA
Obesity as a Modulator of Chemical Toxicity. Chairperson Chris Corton, USEPA, Chapel Hill, NC
The Role of MAP Kinases in Metal Toxicity. Chairpersons Alice Villalobos, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY and Aaron Barchowsky, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA
WEDNESDAY PM March 8
Determinants of Manganese Neurotoxicity: From Worms to Man.Chairpersons Tomas Guilarte, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD and Michael Aschner, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
The Path for Assessing Human Relevance and Advancing New Safety Biomarkers for Drug Induced Vascular Injury. Chairpersons Denise Robinson, Pfizer Global Research & Development, New London, CT and Frank Sistare, Merck & Co Inc, West Point, PA
Role of Epigenetics in the Fetal Basis of Adult Disease. Chairpersons Jerrold Heindel, NIEHS, Research Triangle Park, NC and Retha Newbold, NIEHS, Research Triangle Park, NC
Dan introduced the new officers for the Mechanisms Specialty Section who will assume their duties May 1, 2006. These officers are: Vice-President Elect – Dr. Gary Rankin; Secretary-Treasurer – Dr. Joan Tarloff; Junior Councilor – Dr. Terry Kavanagh; Student Councilor – Natalie Lassen.
Plaques were then presented by Dan to outgoing officers: Past President Dr. Serrine Lau; Dr. Dennis Petersen, Senior Councilor; and Adrian Nanez, student councilor.
Dr. Dennis Petersen presented the Merck Postdoctoral Travel Award winners. The competition was fierce and 4 outstanding submissions were identified. The Merck award was sufficient to fund three winners and the Mechanisms specialty section contributed $500 to fund the fourth winner. The panel of judges and winner are listed below.
Dr. Qin Chen provided a new meansof communication with Tee Smith and her family for the presentations. Since Tee was unable to make the trip, the presentations were recorded. Dr. Chen stated there is a long and important history of the Carl Smith award and that previous winners are now judges for this award. For the 2006 competition, 21 applications were received. Initial screening by a panel of Screening Judges reduced this number to 12 applications. Following the submission of a full length manuscript, the applications were reviewed by a panel of Final Judges and the winners selected. Dr. Chen acknowledged the judges involved in the screening and final selection process. Dr. Valentovic thanked Taylor & Francis for their generous support of the Carl Smith Fund ($500 donation) and for presenting the First, Second and Third Place winners with gift certificates. The panels of judges for screening and manuscript review and winners are listed below.
No other business was brought forth, and the meeting was adjourned at 7:48 PM.
MERCK POSTDOCTORAL TRAVEL AWARD
Merck Postdoctoral Travel Award Judges
Dennis Petersen (Chair), University of Colorado
Alvaro Puga, University of Cincinnati
Hartmut Jaeschke, University of Arizona
2006 Merck Mechanisms Postdoctoral Travel Award Recipients
Chungang Guo, LouisianaStateUniversityHealthSciencesCenter (Mentor: Ken McMartin)
“Aluminum Citrate Blocks Toxicity of Oxalate Crystals by Inhibiting their Binding to Proximal Tubule Cells.”
Barbara Leinweber,University of Arizona (Mentors: Serrine Lau and Terry Monks)
“Immunohistochemical and MALDI Imagining Reveal Changes in Expression and Phosphorylation of Annexin I and II in Chemical-Induced Renal Tumors”.
Gordon McCallum,University of Toronto (Mentor: Peter G. Wells)
“Different Mechanisms in Prostaglandin H Synthase (PHS)-Catalyzed oxidation of Catecholamine Neurotransmitters Vs. 3,4-Methylenedixoymethamphetamine and methamphetamine to free radical intermediates.”
Jingbo Pi, CIITCenters for Health Research (Mentor: Michael Waalkes)
“Sequential Phosphorylation by Protein Kinase CK2 Regulates NRF2 Activation and Degradation; Potential Role of Arsenic-Induced Skin Carcinogenesis.”
CARL SMITH AWARD
Carl C. Smith Graduate Student Award Judging Panels
Chair:Qin Chen
1. Screening Committee
Dr. Dennis Petersen (University of Colorado)
Dr. Jim Stevens (Eli Lilly and Co)
Dr. John Robertson (University of Kansas)
2. Final Judging Committee
Dr. Dan Liebler, Chair (VanderbiltUniversity)
Dr. Terry Kavanagh (University of Washington)
Dr. Rosita Proteau (OregonStateUniversity)
Dr. Chen withdrew as chair due to conflict of interest
Carl C. Smith Graduate Student Award Winners
First Place
Midhun C. Korrapati (Mentor: Harihara Mehendale)
“Mechanism of Increased Cell Division and Protection of Mice Against S-1,2-Dichlorovinyl-L-Cysteine-Induced Acute Renal Failure and Death”
Department of Toxicology, University of Louisiana Monroe, Monroe, LA
Second Place
Andrea W. Wong (Mentor: Peter G.Wells)
“The Role of Oxidative DNA Damage and Repair in Methamphetamine-initiated Neurodevelopmental Deficits”
Department of Pharmacology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Third Place
Natalie Lassen (Mentor: Vasilis Vasiliou)
“Development of Cataract Phenotype in Ald1a1-/-/Aldh3a1-/- Double Knockout Mice”
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado, Denver, CO
Honorable Mention
(Listed Alphabetically)
Ashley A. Fisher (Mentors: Serrine Lau and Terry Monks)
“Adduction of cytochrome c by benzoquinone and (glutathion-s-yl)-1,4-benzoquinone causes a loss of protein function”
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Cora J. Fong (Mentor: Tim Zacharewski)
“Temporal and Dose Response Uterine Gene Expression Analysis of Tamoxifen Treated C57BL/6 Mice by cDNA Microarray”
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, MichiganStateUniversity, East Lansing, MI
Jean L. Lord (Mentor: Serrine Lau and Terry Monks)
“Chemical dependent phosphorylation of heat shock protein 27”
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Jeffrey S. Moffit (Mentor: Jose Manautou)
“Differential gene expression in liver associated with the hepatoprotective effect of peroxisome proliferators”
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences,University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Timothy Michael O’Brien (Mentor: Ken Wallace)
“Mechanism of N-Acetyl Perfluorooctane Sulfonamide Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction”
Toxicology Graduate Program, University of Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota
William O. Osburn (Mentors: Michael Trush and Thomas Kensler)
“Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts from Nrf2-Deficient Mice Display Increased Oxidative Damage Following Exposure to Diquat”
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, JohnsHopkinsUniversity, Baltimore, MD
Ashwini S. Sabnis (Mentor: Garold Yost)
“Characterization of trpm8 receptors in human respiratory epithelial cells”
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
Haipeng Sun (Mentor: Qin Chen)
“Induction of Cyclooxygenase-2 by Glucocorticoids in Cardiomyocytes”
Department of Pharmacology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Lifang Xie (Mentor: Qin Chen)
“Discovery of Cystatin C as a Biomarker of Cardiac Cell Type Specific Oxidative Injury with Shotgun Proteomics”
Department of Pharmacology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
CARL C. SMITH MECHANISMS GRADUATE STUDENT AWARDS
DEADLINE: OCTOBER 9, 2006
The Mechanisms Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology is pleased to announce the Twenty-fifth Annual Graduate Student Awards for Meritorious Research in Mechanisms of Toxicology. The awards will be presented during the 46th Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology in Charlotte,NC, March25-29, 2007.
For consideration as a candidate for an award:
- An abstract must be submitted to the 2007 Annual SOT Meeting with the graduate student as the presenting author.
- A copy of the abstract and a statement that it is to be considered for this award must be sent as an electronicfile attachment (Word or pdf) to Dr. Terry Kavanagh,nd must be sent no later than October 9, 2006.
- Two letters recommending the graduate student and the research project must be sent for eachabstract. One of the recommendations must be from the Department or Section Head. The letter must verify that the work reported in the abstract was done while the student was enrolled in the graduate program and that this is the only specialty section to which this abstract is being submitted for an award. The letter must also specially cite the role and contribution of the student in the completion of the work, especially when there are multiple authors. Letters should be sent electronically to Dr. Kavanagh () by the individuals making the recommendations.
- Up to three candidates may be nominated by a department or program. The department or program must decide which graduate students best represent them.
- The graduate student may be sponsored for this award by any person who is a member (active or pending) of the Mechanisms Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology. Member sponsorship from the Mechanisms Specialty Section should be noted in one of the letters of recommendation.
As many as twelve finalists will be selected to submit a full-length manuscript on the research described in their abstract. Instructions for preparing and submitting the manuscript will be provided in the letter announcing their selection as a finalist. The deadline for submission of the full-length manuscript will be January 8, 2007. First, second and third place winners will receive a plaque and a cash award of $1,000, $500 and $300, respectively. Remaining finalists will receive honorable mention awards (framed certificates).