MCI Researcher Focuses on Dangers of Vaping
Posted on April 26, 2021
Years of cancer research, along with concern about environmental exposure to toxic chemicals, led Dr. Natalie Gassman to focus on the harmful effects of dihydroxyacetone 鈥� DHA 鈥� a molecule produced by electronic cigarettes.
Millions of young people have turned to vaping as an alternative to smoking tobacco, but they鈥檙e still inhaling a noxious mix of toxicants and carcinogens.
鈥淓-cigarettes are like a flamethrower of chemicals,鈥� said Gassman, an assistant professor of physiology and cell biology at the University of South Alabama, and a researcher at the . 鈥淵ou can make them safer, but they鈥檙e never going to be safe. The market is flooded with versions that are identical if not worse than traditional cigarettes. There are cheap ones you can buy off the Internet that are contaminated with heavy metals. It鈥檚 like smoking air pollution at that point.鈥�
In January, Gassman received a $1.1 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences that will fund her research for the next five years.
At the Mitchell Cancer Institute, she won the 2019 Mayer Mitchell Award for Excellence in Cancer Research and the 2020 吃瓜爆料 Center for Lung Biology Murray Bander Faculty Development Award.
Gassman, 41, earned degrees at Michigan State University and UCLA. She did post-doctorate research at Wake Forest and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. In 2015, she joined the faculty at South and the staff at MCI.
鈥淪he had great training and background,鈥� said Dr. Robert Sobol, program leader of metabolic and molecular oncology, who recruited Gassman. 鈥淲e thought she鈥檇 make a great addition to the program and you can see by her grants and awards that she鈥檚 done a fantastic job. She鈥檚 really embraced the University, too, serving on the Faculty Senate and as chair of the Institutional Biosafety Committee.鈥�
Gassman鈥檚 research has shown that DHA exposure causes cell injury and impairs cell function, which may contribute to lung damage. She and her collaborator, Dr. Marie Migaud, a 吃瓜爆料 professor of pharmacology, have identified a protein, triose kinase/FMN cyclase (TKFC), that is critical to the incorporation of DHA into cells and their metabolic pathways.
Vaping has grown exponentially in adolescents and young adults, which makes e-cigarettes a public health concern.
鈥淭here is a pressing need to understand how electronic cigarettes damage the lungs,鈥� Gassman said, 鈥渋n order to develop treatment strategies for users and regulations to restrict dangerous ingredients.鈥�
She and Dr. Casey Daniel, a colleague at MCI, spent several years studying the effects of dihydroxyacetone in spray tanning products. It was this work that led to research on DHA in electronic cigarettes.
鈥淲e were kind of struggling because we knew it was interesting research, but it didn鈥檛 have that broader appeal,鈥� Gassman said. 鈥淲hen we figured out that the mobilant in e-cigarettes, which is typically propylene glycol and glycerol, when they鈥檙e ignited, they form dihydroxyacetone, that was a big thing for us. Now you鈥檙e going to directly inhale something. You鈥檙e not going to have the benefit of your skin filtering it. You鈥檙e going to take it into your mouth, down your throat and into your lungs, and then your lungs are going to distribute it through your blood vessels to your heart and other organs.鈥�
Graphical Abstracts
Last year, the DNA Repair journal published a special issue honoring Dr. Samuel Wilson, one of Gassman鈥檚 mentors at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. She and Griffin Wright, a doctoral student at South, produced a graphical review for 鈥淭ranscriptional dysregulation of base excision repair proteins in breast cancer.鈥�
Charts for their article used labeled boxes, waves and arrows to help describe how proteins are regulated under normal cell conditions and in the context of cancer.
鈥淭hat was an interesting exercise,鈥� Gassman said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not artistic at all, but I鈥檝e