title: Metallothionein-II and ferritin H mRNA levels are increased in arsenite-exposed HeLa cells.
abstract: Arsenite is extremely toxic and, though non-mutagenic, is a carcinogen. To determine the effects of arsenite on changes in cell physiology, we searched for genes in HeLa cells whose mRNAs are more abundant after cellular exposure to arsenite. A cDNA subtraction was performed between cDNA synthesized from HeLa cells grown in the absence and presence of 5 microM sodium arsenite. Isolation and sequencing of three clones that showed a higher hybridization signal to RNA from arsenite-exposed cells, versus unexposed cells, revealed that two of the cDNAs coded for human ferritin H chain and the other coded for metallothionein-II. These results suggest the possibility that arsenite exposure may lead to increased levels of oxygen radicals, which augmented metallothionein and ferritin can act to detoxify.
authors.affiliation: McGill University, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guzzo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karatzios
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Diorio
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: DuBow
mesh_terms: D018053:Arsenites / Q000633:toxicity*; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005293:Ferritins / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008668:Metallothionein / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018053:Arsenites; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D005293:Ferritins; D008668:Metallothionein; C015001:arsenite