Editorial pubs.acs.org/crt
Call for Papers on Mass Spectrometry and Biomarkers in Human Population Studies
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drugs. We are calling (encouraging) for our colleagues to submit their manuscripts on human-based research to CRT.
here is increasing awareness that exposures to multiple chemicals contribute to disease and that biomarkers of a large number of toxicants are required for risk assessment. Exposures to toxic chemicals from urban pollution, tobacco smoke, diet, medicines, pesticides, and endogenously produced electrophiles can contribute to the etiology of cancer and other diseases. Ever since its inception in 1988, Chemical Research in Toxicology has been a leading journal in the use of chemical approaches and bioanalytical methodology to study mechanisms of toxicity posed by these agents. The journal has published hundreds of papers devoted to the chemistry of biotransformation of toxicants and drugs into reactive intermediates, and the characterization of their adduction products to proteins and DNA, by innovative bioanalytical mass spectrometry based methods. Many of these biomarkers have served as the basis for our understanding of chemically induced toxicities and have had a great impact on public health. These studies have often provided crucial mechanistic information for regulatory agencies and international health organizations, in their review and evaluation of the exposures to chemicals and complex mixtures to the etiology of cancer or other diseases. Historically, many studies were conducted in vitro or in experimental animal models. However, with the developments in hyphenated mass spectrometry technologies, particularly liquid chromatography−electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MSn), and the advances made in sensitivity and various scanning modes of MS instruments, such as triple quadrupole, ion-trap, high-resolution accurate MS, and hybrid-based MS instruments, it is now possible to characterize and measure many biomolecules at minute levels in small quantities of human biospecimens that were unattainable a decade ago. Human exposures to hazardous chemicals can be measured through DNA or protein adduct biomarkers, urinary metabolites, and the biological responses to toxicants and drugs can be characterized by metabolomics using a variety of MS instruments. Molecular epidemiologic studies combined with the mechanistic information on chemical carcinogenesis firmly established causative linkages between exposure to aflatoxin and aristolochic acid and cancer risk in human populations. The employment of DNA adduct biomarkers was a critical end point to measure exposure, and the unique mutational signatures induced by the DNA adducts were used to establish the causative role of these chemicals in human cancer. Mass spectrometry will play an even more pivotal role in public health by exposure assessment through the measurements of biomarkers of exposure and disease risk in humans. The Editors and Editorial Advisory Board aim for CRT to become the premier scientific journal employing bioanalytical mass spectrometry and biomarkers in human-population studies to advance our understanding of the role of chemicals in the etiology of cancer and other toxicities but also to further our knowledge on the beneficial effects of dietary factors in chemoprevention and advance the safety assessment of new © 2017 American Chemical Society
Robert J. Turesky,* Guest Editor
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Masonic Cancer Center and Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*Masonic Cancer Research Ctr., First Floor Mailroom CCRB, 2812A (Campus Delivery Code), 2231 Sixth St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Phone: +1 612-626-0141. Email:
[email protected]. ORCID
Robert J. Turesky: 0000-0001-7355-9903 Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
Published: February 20, 2017 487
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.6b00431 Chem. Res. Toxicol. 2017, 30, 487−487
