gwen Shen

Arsenic binding to proteins.

Arsenic is a trace element found in the earth’s crust at an average concentration of ∼5 μg/g (ppm). Although its relative abundance in the earth’s crust is about 54th, arsenic can become concentrated in some parts of the world because of natural mineralization. Arsenic is a component of 245 minerals, associated most frequently with other metals such as copper, gold, lead, and zinc in sulfidic ores.1−3 When disturbed by natural processes, such as weathering, biological activity, and volcanic eruption, arsenic may be released into the environment. Anthropogenic activities, such as combustion of fossil fuels, mining, ore smelting, and well drilling, also mobilize and introduce arsenic into the environment. Chronic exposure to arsenic from groundwater has been recognized to cause the largest environmental health disaster in the world, putting more than 100 million people at risk of cancer and other arsenic-related diseases.4,5 Because of its prevalence in the environment, potential for human exposure, and the magnitude and severity of health problems it causes, the United States Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has ranked arsenic as No. 1 on its Priority List of Hazardous Substances for many years. The recent priority list, posted in 2011 (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/SPL/index.html), shows arsenic as No. 1, ahead of lead, mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Epidemiological studies of populations exposed to high levels of arsenic due to ingestion from water, including those from Taiwan,6−8 Argentina,9,10 Chile,11,12 West Bengal, India,13,14 Bangladesh,15−17 and Inner Mongolia, China,18,19 have repeatedly shown strong associations between the exposure to high concentrations of arsenic and the prevalence of several cancers,20−23 most severely bladder, lung, and skin cancers. Arsenic is classified as a human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Chronic exposure to elevated concentrations of arsenic has also been associated with the increased risk of a number of noncancerous effects.24−27 Although the adverse health effects arising from exposure to arsenic have been well-recognized, the mechanism(s) of action responsible for the diverse range of health effects are complicated and poorly understood.26−30 It is believed that inorganic arsenate (HAsO42-), which is a molecular analogue of phosphate (HPO42-), can compete for phosphate anion transporters and replace phosphate in some biochemical reactions.28 For example, generation of adenosine-5′-triphosphate (ATP) during oxidative phosphorylation can be inhibited by the replacement of phosphate with arsenate. Depletion of ATP by arsenate has been observed in cellular systems.28 However, the replacement of phosphate in DNA by arsenic is not firmly established.31−35 The toxicity of trivalent arsenicals likely occurs through the interaction of trivalent arsenic species with sulfhydryl groups in proteins. Arsenic binding to a specific protein could alter the conformation and function of the protein as well as its recruitment of and interaction with other functional proteins. Therefore, there has been much emphasis on studies of arsenic binding to proteins, for the purpose of understanding arsenic toxicity and developing arsenic-based therapeutics. This review summarizes various aspects of arsenic binding to proteins. It discusses the chemical basis and biological implications and consequences of arsenic binding to proteins. It also describes analytical techniques and the characterization of arsenic binding, including the binding affinity, kinetics, and speciation.

Attenuation of DNA damage-induced p53 expression by arsenic: a possible mechanism for arsenic co-carcinogenesis.

Inhibition of DNA repair processes has been suggested as one predominant mechanism in arsenic co‐genotoxicity. However, the underlying mode of action responsible for DNA repair inhibition by arsenic remains elusive. To further elucidate the mechanism of repair inhibition by arsenic, we examined the effect of trivalent inorganic and methylated arsenic metabolites on the repair of benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE)–DNA adducts in normal human primary fibroblasts and their effect on repair‐related protein expression. We observed that monomethylarsonous acid (MMAIII) was the most potent inhibitor of the DNA repair. MMAIII did not change the expression levels of some key repair proteins involved upstream of the dual incision in the global nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway, including p48, XPC, xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group A (XPA), and p62‐TFIIH. However, it led to a marked impairment of p53 induction in response to BPDE treatment. The abrogated p53 expression translated into reduced p53 DNA‐binding activity, suggesting a possibility of downregulating downstream repair genes by p53. A p53‐null cell line failed to exhibit the inhibitory effect of MMAIII on NER, implicating a role for p53 in the NER inhibition by MMAIII. Further investigation revealed that MMAIII dramatically inhibited p53 phosphorylation at serine 15, implying that MMAIII destabilized p53 by inhibiting its phosphorylation. Because p53 is required for proficient global NER, our data suggest that arsenic inhibits NER through suppressing p53 induction in response to DNA damage in cells with normal p53 gene expression.

Cytotoxicity and Oxidative Damage Induced by Halobenzoquinones to T24 Bladder Cancer Cells

Four halobenzoquinones (HBQs), 2,6-dichloro-1,4-benzoquinone (DCBQ), 2,6-dichloro-3-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone (DCMBQ), 2,3,6-trichloro-1,4-benzoquinone (TCBQ), and 2,6-dibromobenzoquinone (DBBQ), have been recently confirmed as disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in drinking water; however, their toxicological information is scarce. Here, we report that HBQs are cytotoxic to T24 bladder cancer cells and that the IC50 values are 95 μM for DCBQ, 110 μM for DCMBQ, 151 μM for TCBQ, and 142 μM for DBBQ, after a 24-h exposure. The antioxidant N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) significantly reduces the cytotoxicity induced by the four HBQs, supporting the hypothesis that oxidative stress contributes to the cytotoxicity of HBQs. To further explore the oxidative mechanisms of cytotoxicity, we examined HBQ-induced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in T24 cells, and measured 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), protein carbonyls, and malondialdehyde (MDA) adducts of proteins, markers of oxidative damage to DNA, proteins, and lipids, respectively. All four HBQs generated intracellular ROS in T24 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. HBQs also produced 8-OHdG in genomic DNA of T24 cells, with the highest levels of 8-OHdG induced by DCMBQ. Protein carbonylation was significantly increased in T24 cells that were incubated with each of the four HBQs for 24 h. However, MDA adduct formation, a marker of lipid peroxidation, was not affected by any of the four HBQs tested. These results suggest that the ROS-induced oxidative damage to DNA and protein carbonylation are involved in the observed toxicity of HBQs in T24 cells.

Arsenic speciation in the blood of arsenite-treated F344 rats.

Arsenic speciation in blood can improve understanding of the metabolism and toxicity of arsenic. In this study, arsenic species in the plasma and red blood cells (RBCs) of arsenite-treated female F344 rats were characterized using anion exchange and size exclusion chromatography separation with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI MS/MS) detection. Arsenite (iAs(III)), arsenate (iAs(V)), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA(V)), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA(V)), trimethylarsine oxide (TMAO(V)), monomethylmonothioarsonic acid (MMMTA(V)), and dimethylmonothioarsinic acid (DMMTA(V)) were detected in the plasma, with DMA(V) being the predominant metabolite. Upon oxidative pretreatment with 5% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), plasma proteins released bound arsenic in the form of DMA(V) as the major species and MMA(V) as the minor species. The ratio of protein-bound arsenic to total arsenic decreased with increasing dosage of iAs(III) administered to the rats, suggesting a possible saturation of the binding capacity of the plasma proteins. The proportion of the protein-bound arsenic in the plasma varied among rats. In the H2O2-treated lysates of red blood cells of rats, DMA(V) was consistently found as the predominant arsenic species, probably reflecting the preferential binding of dimethylarsinous acid (DMA(III)) to rat hemoglobin. iAs(V), MMA(V), and trimethylarsine oxide (TMAO(V)) were also detected in the hydrogen peroxide-treated lysates of red blood cells. Importantly, DMMTA(V) and MMMTA(V) have not been reported in rat blood, and the present finding of DMMTA(V) and MMMTA(V) in the rat plasma is toxicologically relevant because these pentavalent thioarsenicals are more toxic than their counterparts DMA(V) and MMA(V). Identifying novel thiolated arsenicals and determining protein-bound arsenicals in the blood provide useful insights into the metabolism and toxicity of arsenic in animals.

DNase-mediated single-cycle selection of aptamers for proteins blotted on a membrane.

We describe a single-cycle DNA aptamer selection strategy that is able to obtain high affinity aptamers (K(d) of sub-nM) directly from a protein blotted on membrane. The key to the success of this strategy is the unique use of DNase I digestion to remove unwanted ssDNA from the membrane, leaving only the strongest bound aptamers. A crude Hepatitis B virus core protein (HBcAg) was separated using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and electro-blotted onto a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane. The membrane strip containing HBcAg and a second membrane strip containing human serum proteins were coincubated with a ssDNA library consisting of ∼10 copies each of 10(15) random sequences. Unbound and weakly bound sequences were efficiently removed from the membrane containing HBcAg using DNase I digestion and gradient wash with urea buffers. The remaining ssDNA bound to the target consisted of approximately 500 molecules, from which two aptamers with high affinity (K(d) ∼100 and 200 pM) were identified. This technique can be potentially used for selection of aptamers directly from multiple proteins that are separated by gel electrophoresis from a biological mixture.

Arsenite and its mono- and dimethylated trivalent metabolites enhance the formation of benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide-DNA adducts in Xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group A cells.

Recently, inorganic arsenite (iAs(III)) and its mono- and dimethylated metabolites have been examined for their interference with the formation and repair of benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE)-induced DNA adducts in human cells (Schwerdtle, ., Walter, I., and Hartwig, A. (2003) DNA Repair 2, 1449 - 1463). iAs(III) and monomethylarsonous acid (MMA(III)) were found to be able to enhance the formation of BPDE-DNA adducts, whereas dimethylarsinous acid (DMA(III)) had no enhancing effect at all. The anomaly manifested by DMA(III) prompted us to further investigate the effects of the three trivalent arsenic species on the formation of BPDE-DNA adducts. Use of a nucleotide excision repair (NER)-deficient Xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group A cell line (GM04312C) allowed us to dissect DNA damage induction from DNA repair and to examine the effects of arsenic on the formation of BPDE-DNA adducts only. At concentrations comparable to those used in the study by Schwerdtle et al., we found that each of the three trivalent arsenic species was able to enhance the formation of BPDE-DNA adducts with the potency in a descending order of MMA(III) > DMA(III) > iAs(III), which correlates well with their cytotoxicities. Similar to iAs(III), DMA(III) modulation of reduced glutathione (GSH) or total glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity could not account for its enhancing effect on DNA adduct formation. Additionally, the enhancing effects elicited by the trivalent arsenic species were demonstrated to be highly time-dependent. Thus, although our study made use of short-term assays with relatively high doses, our data may have meaningful implications for carcinogenesis induced by chronic exposure to arsenic at low doses encountered environmentally.

Elevation of Cellular BPDE Uptake by Human Cells: A Possible Factor Contributing to Co-Carcinogenicity by Arsenite

Background Arsenite (iAsIII) can promote mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of other carcinogens. Considerable attention has focused on interference with DNA repair by inorganic arsenic, especially the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway, whereas less is known about the effect of arsenic on the induction of DNA damage by other agents. Objectives We examined how arsenic modulates DNA damage by other chemicals. Methods We used an NER-deficient cell line to dissect DNA damage induction from DNA repair and to examine the effects of iAsIII on the formation of benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE)–DNA adducts. Results We found that pretreatment with iAsIII at subtoxic concentrations (10 μM) led to enhanced formation of BPDE–DNA adducts. Reduced glutathione levels, glutathione S-transferase activity and chromatin accessibility were also measured after iAsIII treatment, but none of these factors appeared to account for the enhanced formation of DNA adducts. However, we found that pretreatment with iAsIII increased the cellular uptake of BPDE in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions Our results suggest that iAsIII enhanced the formation of BPDE–DNA adducts by increasing the cellular uptake of BPDE. Therefore, the ability of arsenic to increase the bioavailability of other carcinogens may contribute to arsenic co-carcinogenicity.

Detection of benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide-DNA adducts in mononuclear white blood cells by CE immunoassay and its application to studying the effect of glutathione depletion.

High levels of benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE)‐DNA adducts in white blood cells have been indicated as a risk factor for lung cancer. Sensitive, specific, fast and cost‐efficient techniques for the detection of BPDE‐DNA adducts in white blood cells are required for routine human biomonitoring. In the present study, an immunoassay based on CE/LIF was developed for the detection of BPDE‐DNA adducts in mononuclear white blood cells (MNCs). Although glutathione (GSH) conjugation catalyzed by glutathione‐S‐transferase (GST) is considered to be the major pathway for inactivating BPDE, the effect of GSH depletion on BPDE‐DNA adduct formation in MNCs has not been assessed. Therefore, we applied the newly developed method to study the effect of GSH depletion by d,l‐buthionine‐[S,R]‐sulfoximine (BSO) on the level of DNA adducts. We found that pretreatment of MNCs with 150 μM BSO for 2 h prior to BPDE exposure increased the level of BPDE‐DNA adducts appreciably (by ∼70%). Further investigations revealed that the 2‐h BSO treatment neither decreased the GSH level instantly nor affected GST activity; rather, it prevented the induction of GSH in response to subsequent BPDE incubation. The blocked synthesis of GSH might be responsible for the elevated level of BPDE‐DNA adducts in MNCs after BSO and BPDE treatment.

Arsenic speciation in hair and nails of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patients undergoing arsenic trioxide treatment

Arsenic in hair and nails has been used to assess chronic exposure of humans to environmental arsenic. However, it remains to be seen whether it is appropriate to evaluate acute exposure to sub-lethal doses of arsenic typically used in therapeutics. In this study, hair, fingernail and toenail samples were collected from nine acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patients who were administered intravenously the daily dose of 10 mg arsenic trioxide (7.5 mg arsenic) for up to 54 days. These hair and nail samples were analyzed for arsenic species using high performance liquid chromatography separation and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection (HPLC-ICPMS). Inorganic arsenite was the predominant form among water-extractable arsenicals. Dimethylarsinic acid (DMAV), monomethylarsonic acid (MMAV), monomethylarsonous acid (MMAIII), monomethylmonothioarsonic acid (MMMTAV), and dimethylmonothioarsinic acid (DMMTAV) were also detected in both hair and nail samples. This is the first report of the detection of MMAIII and MMMTAV as metabolites of arsenic in hair and nails of APL patients.