Endocrine disruptors induce perturbations in endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria of human pluripotent stem cell derivatives

Rajamani U, Gross AR, Ocampo C, Andres AM, Gottlieb RA, Sareen D

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00254-8

• Study of the effect of common man-made chemicals (specifically endocrine distrupting chemicals, or EDCs)  on human-induced pluipotent stem cells
• The authors suggest that exposure to perfluoro-octanoic acid (found in cookware), tributyltin (found in house dust), and butylhydroxytoluene (found in food additives) can induce endoplasmic reticulum stress, perturb inflammatory and cell-death signalling pathways (NF-kB and p53), diminish mitochondrial respiratory gene expression, spare respiratory capacity and ATP levels in stem cells.
• Consequently, normal secretion of appetite control hormones is affected.
• The authors provide this as mechanistic evidence that repeated exposure to these "obesogenic" endocrine distrupting chemicals in utero can alter some genetically pre-disposed individuals' normal metabolic control, setting them up for long-term obesity.