Mercuric chloride damages cellular DNA by a non-apoptotic mechanism.
Mutat Res
; 470(1): 19-27, 2000 Oct 10.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-10986472
Mercury is a xenobiotic metal that is well known to adversely affect the immune system, however, little is known as to the molecular mechanism. Recently, it has been suggested that mercury may induce immune dysfunction by triggering apoptosis in immune cells. Here, we studied the effects of Hg(2+) (HgCl(2)) on U-937 cells, a human cell line with monocytic characteristics. We found that these cells continued to proliferate when exposed to low doses of mercury between 1 and 5 microM. Using the single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) or 'comet' assay, we found that mercury damaged DNA at these levels. Between 1 and 50 microM Hg(2+), comet formation was concentration-dependent with the greatest number of comets formed at 5 microM mercury. However, the appearance of mercury-induced comets was qualitatively different from those of control cells treated with anti-fas antibody, suggesting that although mercury might damage DNA, apoptosis was not involved. This was confirmed by the finding that cells treated with 5 microM mercury were negative for annexin-V binding, an independent assay for apoptosis. These data support the notion that DNA damage in surviving cells is a more sensitive indicator of environmental insult than is apoptosis, and suggests that low-concentrations of ionic mercury may be mutagenic.
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Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Daño del ADN
/
ADN
/
Apoptosis
/
Cloruro de Mercurio
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Mutat Res
Año:
2000
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos
Pais de publicación:
Países Bajos