Goele Aerts

Neurotoxicity of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) by Disturbance of Thyroid Hormone‐Regulated Genes

Abstract: PCBs are known as neurotoxic compounds. Part of this neurotoxicity could be due to an alteration of the expression of TH‐regulated genes in brain. To identify such genes, brain protein extracts of hypo‐ and hyperthyroid as well as PCB‐treated embryos were compared by fluorescent 2D‐DIGE. In total, we observed 109 differentially expressed proteins, of which 17 differed with both PCB and hypo‐ or hyperthyroid treatment. It was found that the interaction of PCBs with the expression of TH‐regulated genes is congener‐specific and that both hyperthyroidism‐ and hypothyroidism‐related effects occur.

The impact of image-size manipulation and sugar content on children's cereal consumption

Previous studies have demonstrated that portion sizes and food energy-density influence childrens eating behavior. However, the potential effects of front-of-pack image-sizes of serving suggestions and sugar content have not been tested. Using a mixed experimental design among young children, this study examines the effects of image-size manipulation and sugar content on cereal and milk consumption. Children poured and consumed significantly more cereal and drank significantly more milk when exposed to a larger sized image of serving suggestion as compared to a smaller image-size. Sugar content showed no main effects. Nevertheless, cereal consumption only differed significantly between small and large image-sizes when sugar content was low. An advantage of this study was the mundane setting in which the data were collected: a schools dining room instead of an artificial lab. Future studies should include a control condition, with children eating by themselves to reflect an even more natural context.

How online consumer reviews are influenced by the language and valence of prior reviews: A construal level perspective

Online reviews are a commonly used source of product information to guide consumers in their purchase decisions. This source of information helps them to make better-informed decisions. Communicators on online review platforms have multiple goals, but only one of them is to provide accurate information. Before posting comments, they could read previous reviews which will in turn influence their written comments. The impact of previous reviews on readers has been demonstrated. However, its influence on writers has hardly been studied. We examined how language abstraction in reviews is influenced by language abstraction in prior reviews, and whether this biased language use may have a subsequent effect on the persuasiveness of reviews. Building on literature about linguistic style matching and construal level theory, the present paper reports two experiments (N = 101 and N = 189) showing that people use more concrete language when prior reviews also use concrete language (i.e. words that refer to tangible, qualities or characteristics), and that this concreteness leads to more favorable attitudes towards the reviewer and the product. These findings suggest that language abstraction is contagious, review platforms could capitalize on this by seeding concrete reviews.

Knockdown of the Type 3 Iodothyronine Deiodinase (D3) Interacting Protein Peroxiredoxin 3 Decreases D3-Mediated Deiodination in Intact Cells

The type 3 iodothyronine deiodinase (D3) is the primary deiodinase that inactivates thyroid hormone. Immunoprecipitation of D3, followed by fluorescent two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, identified peroxiredoxin 3 (Prx3) as a D3-associated protein. This interaction was confirmed using reverse coimmunoprecipitation, in which pull-down of Prx3 resulted in D3 isolation, and by fluorescence resonance energy transfer between cyan fluorescent protein-D3 and yellow fluorescent protein-Prx3. Prx3 overexpression did not change D3 activity in transfected HEK 293 cells; however, Prx3 knockdown resulted in a 50% decrease in D3-mediated whole-cell deiodination. Notably, D3 activity of cell lysates with dithiothreitol as an exogenous reducing factor and D3 protein levels were not decreased with Prx3 knockdown, indicating that the observed reduction in whole-cell deiodination was not simply due to a decrease in D3 enzyme levels. Prx3 knockdown did not change D3s affinity for T3 because saturation of D3-mediated whole-cell deiodination occurred between 20 and 200 nm T3 both with and without Prx3. Furthermore, the decrease in D3 activity in whole cells was not attributable to nonspecific oxidative stress because pretreatment with the antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine did not reverse the effects of Prx3 knockdown. Thioredoxin, the cofactor needed for Prx3 regeneration, supported D3 microsomal activity; however, Prx3 knockdown did not change D3 activity in this system. In conclusion, knockdown of Prx3 decreases D3 activity in whole cells, whereas absolute levels of D3 are unchanged, consistent with Prx3 playing a rate-limiting role in the regeneration of the D3 enzyme.