Effects of acute ethanol treatment on NCCIT cells and NCCIT cell-derived embryoid bodies (EBs)

This study used human embryonic carcinoma (NCCIT) cells to evaluate genotoxicity and other effects of ethanol in earlier stages of cellular development. This undifferentiated pluripotent cell line has unlimited self-renewal capacity and has been shown to differentiate in vitro. We analyzed proteome expression profile of ethanol-treated NCCIT cells and NCCIT cell-derived embryoid bodies (EBs) by MALDI-TOF MS. To test the role of ethanol as an embryotoxic and/or teratogenic factor, MetaCore pathway analysis software (GeneGO) was used to evaluate the process of normal growth and differentiation of NCCIT cells and EBs. We compared the different protein expression profiles of ethanol-treated versus untreated NCCIT cells and NCCIT cell-derived EBs. The ethanol-treated NCCIT cells demonstrate significant up regulation of SMAP1, dual specificity phosphatase 1 and pro isomerase domain-containing 1, cytokeratin 18, triosephosphate isomerase and beta-tubulin. However, ethanol-treated NCCIT cell-derived EBs exhibited upregulated signatures of different proteins, including CDC25B phosphatase, alpha-enolase, 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase and tumor suppressor patched L' isoform, which suggests that ethanol may play a different role in EBs. These proteins exert their function on transcriptional and translational processes. Moreover, the functional proteomic analysis confirms the relationship between ethanol and ethanol-regulated genes and various signaling pathways and networks. The data presented in this study contribute toward the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of ethanol in NCCIT cells and NCCIT cell-derived EBs.