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The RPTEC/TERT1 Cell Line as an Improved Tool for In Vitro Nephrotoxicity Assessments

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Abstract

In earlier studies, we have characterized a newly developed cell line derived from the renal proximal tubule epithelial cells (RPTEC) of a healthy human male donor in order to provide an improved in vitro model with which to investigate human diseases, such as cancer, that may be promoted by toxicant exposure. The RPTEC/TERT1 cell line has been immortalized using the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) catalytic subunit and does not exhibit chromosomal abnormalities (Evercyte Laboratories). We have previously conducted single-compound and binary mixture experiments with the common environmental carcinogens, cadmium (Cd), and benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P). Cells exhibited cytotoxic and compound-specific responses to low concentrations of B[a]P and Cd. We detected responses after exposure consistent with what is known regarding these cells in a normal, healthy kidney including significant gene expression changes, BPDE-DNA adducts in the presence of B[a]P, and indications of oxidative stress in the presence of Cd. The RPTEC/TERT1 cell line was also amenable to co-exposure studies due to its sensitivity and compound-specific properties. Here, we review our earlier work, compare our findings with commonly used renal cell lines, and suggest directions for future experiments. We conclude that the RPTEC/TERT1 cell line can provide a useful tool for future toxicological and mixture studies.

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Funding

Funding was provided in part by a generous grant from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Baton Rouge, LA.

Funding was provided in part by a grant and cooperative agreement from the NIH/NIEHS 1U19ES20677-01. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIEHS or NIH.

Funding and support was provided in part by the Tulane Cancer Center and the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium.

This work was supported in part by the Gulf Region Health Outreach Program (GRHOP), which is funded by the Deepwater Horizon Medical Benefits Class Action Settlement approved by the US District Court in New Orleans on January 11, 2013.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA

    Bridget R. Simon-Friedt, Diane A. Blake & Jeffrey K. Wickliffe

  2. Department of Global Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA

    Bridget R. Simon-Friedt, Mark J. Wilson & Jeffrey K. Wickliffe

  3. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA

    Diane A. Blake & Haini Yu

  4. Emerging Scholars Environmental Health Sciences Academy, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA

    Yasmin Eriksson & Jeffrey K. Wickliffe

Authors
  1. Bridget R. Simon-Friedt
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  2. Mark J. Wilson
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  3. Diane A. Blake
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  4. Haini Yu
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  5. Yasmin Eriksson
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  6. Jeffrey K. Wickliffe
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Correspondence to Jeffrey K. Wickliffe.

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Simon-Friedt, B.R., Wilson, M.J., Blake, D.A. et al. The RPTEC/TERT1 Cell Line as an Improved Tool for In Vitro Nephrotoxicity Assessments. Biol Trace Elem Res 166, 66–71 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-015-0339-y

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