Editor, Katie Cottingham

In this Issue:

• Message from Chair
• TOXI Election Results
• North American Scientific Achievement Award to Dan Liebler
• Quarterly Chemical Report: Lichenysin A and Surfactin
• Research Highlight: ACS Meeting Report
• Career Corner: Scientific Presentations
• ACS National Meeting: TOXI Boston Program
• ACS Fellows Program: Call for TOXI Nominees
• NIH Study Section Reviewers
• Other Announcements

Message from the Chair

Message from the Division Chair, Professor Lisa A. Peterson

It has been a busy fall, so I have lots of news to report. First of all, I would like to welcome the newly elected officers of the Division. I am looking forward to working with them in the upcoming year. Thanks to all who were willing to run for office. I appreciate your willingness to participate in the process. The nominations committee of 2009 did a good job rounding up an outstanding slate of candidates. Thanks, too, to the outgoing officers for their contributions during their time of service!

Secondly, I am pleased to announce the selection of Dick Loeppky as the 2010 Founder's Award Recipient. Dick has made many contributions to our understanding of nitrosamine formation, bioactivation, and carcinogenesis. In addition, he is one of the key founders of the Division. Congratulations, Dick!

Our program committee (under the direction of Kaushik Mitra) has developed an outstanding program for the Fall ACS meeting in Boston, August 22-25, 2010. See below for details. That means it is time to start thinking about meeting abstracts. Abstract submissions will start on January 25, 2010 and close on March 22, 2010. We are looking forward to your participation this year.

The strategic-planning process is almost complete. We are in the final preparation of the plan for approval by the executive committee. As a result of this planning process, we are developing new and expanded committees. They include a Professional Development committee, a Communications committee with Networking and Publicity subcommittees, and an expanded Finance and Development committee with Endowment Fund and Division Income subcommittees. Expanded involvement of the membership will be key to advancing the strategic goals and sustaining an excellent scientific community. If you are interested in joining one of these committees, please contact me (peter431@umn.edu).

Finally, I welcome Dr. Katie Cottingham to the Newsletter production team as the new Editor. I hope you will enjoy the enhanced content and professional angle Katie will bring to communications for the Division. Check out the new Career Corner she has developed. Pete Dedon has agreed to be a regular contributor to this column. Thanks, Pete! I also thank Shana Sturla for her outstanding newsletter editorship in 2009.

As the year closes, I would like to thank all of you who have taken time out of your busy schedules to participate in the activities of the Division in many different ways. The Division is strong because of the members' commitment to its success. I have enjoyed working with all of you.

Happy New Year!

TOXI Election Results
The results are in! Here are your new officers:

Treasurer: Ashis Basu, Ph.D. (University of Connecticut)

Secretary: Thomas Spratt, Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University)

Executive Committee Member-at-Large: Michelle Dennehy, Ph.D.
(Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research)

Nominating Committee:

• Chair: Judy Bolton, Ph.D. (University of Illinois at Chicago)
• Kent Gates, Ph.D. (University of Missouri)
• Thomas Baillie, Ph.D. (University of Washington)

North American Scientific Achievement Award to Dan Liebler

Congratulations to Dan Liebler, who was the 2009 recipient of the North American Scientific Achievement Award in honor of Ronald W. Estabrook. This award is presented to a member of the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics who has made major scientific contributions to the field within the North American Region. Dan was recognized for his research, which applies mass spectrometry to study the role of protein damage by electrophilic compounds in human disease.

Quarterly Chemical Report: Lichenysin A and Surfactin

by Timothy Feliciano

Lichenysin A, a lipopeptide produced by Bacillus licheniformis, is a potent toxin. Despite being a structural analog of surfactin, which is produced by Bacillus subtilis, it has a higher surfactant capacity than its close cousin. This fact is made more interesting when one considers that the major difference between the two compounds' primary structure is that Lichenysin A has a glutaminyl residue in the first amino-acid position, whereas surfactin has glutamic acid.

Like surfactin, lichenysin A is a small lipopeptide ring composed of seven amino-acid residues and a long-chain fatty acid (between 13 and 18 carbons) attached to the peptide backbone. It is this partially hydrophobic fatty-acid moiety that interacts with the lipid components of the plasma membrane, and the peptide ring of the molecule that interacts with the phosphatidyl components. As a result, each of these potent toxins is capable of disrupting the selective permeability of cell membranes, causing the leakage of cell components and possibly necrosis.

In concentrations as low as 30-64 mM, surfactin has been shown to be cytotoxic in many human cells, whereas only a 15-mM concentration of lichenysin A exhibits cytotoxicity in human cells, as well as severe hemolytic activity. This increased toxicity is most likely a result of lichenysin A's powerful surfactant properties and is only strengthened by its ability to form micelles in concentrations as low as 22 mM, as opposed to 220 mM for surfactin. Aside from surfactant strength, lichenysin A is also a better chelator than surfactin. Its association constants with Ca2+ and Mg2+ are 4 times and 16 times greater, respectively, than surfactin's. It is lichenysin A's interesting, yet potent characteristics that make it, and surfactin, the subject of research and proposed application in both medicine and industry.

Timothy Feliciano, a 2009 TOXI Young Investigators Travel Grantee, is an undergraduate student at California State University, Long Beach. His research interests include the radical chemistry of anesthetics as a means of investigating their toxicity.

Research Highlight: ACS Meeting Report

by Bakhtiyor Rasulev

On August 15-21, with the help of the Toxicology Division (TOXI) of the American Chemical Society (ACS), I attended the 238^th ACS Meeting. It was held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, in the heart of Washington, DC.

About 12,000 participants attended, and very diverse topics were presented. Because my main field of research is computational chemistry, I attended the sessions from three divisions: TOXI, COMP, and CINF. It was very difficult to choose which sessions to attend because they ran at the same times on various days. Some of the presentations were absolutely amazing, and the scientists who presented were truly inspiring.

While at the conference, I also had the opportunity to present my work as an oral presentation in the Young Investigators session at the TOXI Division meeting. It was the first presentation on Monday, at 8:00am. At this early time, probably only the hardiest scientists attended! The title of my presentation was "Toxicity of Nanomaterials: Can 'Computational Nanotoxicology' be helpful?". In the presentation, I discussed the computational methods that can be used in the toxicity studies of nanomaterials. I also discussed some results, which I obtained with my collaborators during the past three years. The presentation enabled me to discuss and exchange ideas with other scientists who are interested in the toxicity prediction of nanoparticles. There were other interesting talks for me in this session. For example, some authors used molecular modeling techniques to find clues about protein interactions. I would like to thank the session organizers, Dr. Kaushik Mitra and Dr. Shana Sturla, for assistance with the presentation and for leading a good session.

The business meeting, which was held on Tuesday, August 18, was very interesting for me. Because I just recently joined TOXI, I knew a little about this community of ACS. I learned from the meeting the scientific and organizational achievements of the Chemical Toxicology division members and their future plans. During the business meeting and poster session, I had discussions on different topics, including future collaborations and possible contacts. I also talked to scientists about their posters. Of course, meeting other people working in similar areas who had traveled from different laboratories around the world was a wonderful experience.

After the conference, I stayed three more days in Washington, DC and had the opportunity to see some nice places in the city, including the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and the Washington National Cathedral.

I would like to thank the Toxicology Division Committee of ACS for awarding me the Travel Grant that made this trip possible. It was a really important award for me, and I have returned to continue my postdoctoral work with fresh enthusiasm and new contacts for possible collaborations.

Bakhtiyor Rasulev was awarded a 2009 TOXI Young Investigators Travel Grant. He is a postdoc at the Interdisciplinary Center for Nanotoxicity at Jackson State University in Jackson, MS.

Career Corner: Scientific Presentations

by Peter Dedon

One of the most important determinants of success in science is the communication of ideas and discoveries to various audiences. Every step up the career mountain depends on other people's perceptions of our work and our ability to communicate complicated concepts. Yet most graduate and postdoctoral programs do not provide systematic guidance on how to give good presentations. This inaugural Career Corner piece addresses this very issue.

Entire books have been written on this topic, so the limited space here allows me to highlight only the most important issues: organization, content, graphics, style, and comfort. The quality of your science is up to you, but I will provide suggestions on how to morph the proverbial sow's ear into a silk-purse presentation.

more...

ACS National Meeting: TOXI Boston Program

Below are the TOXI sessions that will be held at the ACS National Meeting in Boston:

ACS Fellows Program: Call for TOXI Nominees

The ACS Fellows Program recognizes members of the American Chemical Society for outstanding achievements in and contributions to Science, the Profession, and the Society. The distinguished honor of a Fellows designation will go to those who have distinguished themselves in multiple areas, including promoting the science, the profession, and service to the American Chemical Society. The selection of Fellows will be based upon excellent contributions in two defined areas:

1. Excellence in Science/Profession which could be achieved via excellence in basic or applied research; distinguished accomplishment in teaching or education; or demonstrated leadership or managerial excellence in an organization within the chemical sciences; and
2. Outstanding Service to the ACS which could include, but is not limited to, governance on a divisional, local, regional and/or national level; publications such as editor, assistant, or associate editor; meetings through organization of symposia or major presentations; involvement in National Chemistry Week, Chemists Celebrate Earth Day, environmental efforts, and similar outreach activities or public communication by press, radio, TV, or electronic media.

Nominate deserving members of TOXI by contacting the chair of the TOXI-ACS Fellows Nomination Committee, Professor Steve Hecht (hecht002@umn.edu), by February 1, 2010. Additional information on the ACS Fellows Program can be obtained at the ACS web site and by sending an email to: fellows@acs.org.

NIH Study Section Reviewers

The Division of Chemical Toxicology is developing a list of members who would be appropriate to recommend for service on NIH study sections, either as ad-hoc or chartered members.

Detailed requirements/expectations can be found on the NIH web site. If you feel that you would be an appropriate individual who could be recommended by the Division, please email your NIH bio-sketch or equivalent vitae to the Secretary, Tom Spratt, with "NIH Reviewer" in the subject line. Please include a list of areas of expertise and the chartered study sections that would be most relevant to your interests.

Other Announcements

2nd NanoImpactNet Conference: For a Healthy Environment in a Future with Nanotechnology

Date: March 10–12, 2010
Location: CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland

Description: NanoImpactNet is the European Network on the Health and Environmental Impact of Nanomaterials, which is a four-year European Commission FP7 coordination action run out of the Institute for Health and Work in Lausanne. The project's 24 consortium members are the leading European laboratories in the fields of nanotoxicology and nano-ecotoxicology. The call for abstracts is now open for sessions on: interaction of nanomaterials with biological barriers (human, environmental, and other species); nanomaterial behavior with regard to environmental and physical barriers; and quality control in nanomaterial research. There will also be a special session on nanomaterials in the food industry.