title: Association of HSP70 and genotoxic damage in lymphocytes of workers exposed to coke-oven emission.
abstract: Heat shock proteins (Hsps) have been reported to protect cells, tissues, and organisms against damage from a wide variety of stressful stimuli. Whether they protect against deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage in individuals exposed to environmental stresses and chemical carcinogens is unknown. In the study, we investigated the association between Hsp70 levels (the most abundant mammalian Hsp) and genotoxic damage in lymphocytes of workers exposed to coke-oven emission using Western dot blot and 2 DNA damage assays, the comet assay and the micronucleus test. The data show that there is a significant increase in Hsp70 levels, DNA damage score, and micronucleus rates in lymphocytes of workers exposed to coke-oven emission as compared with the control subjects. Furthermore, there was a significant negative correlation of Hsp70 levels with DNA damage scores in the comet assay (r = -0.663, P < 0.01) and with micronucleus rates (r = -0.461, P < 0.01) in the exposed group. In the control group, there was also a light negative correlation between Hsp70 with DNA damage and micronuclei rate (r = -0.236 and r = 0.242, respectively), but it did not reach a statistically significant level (P > 0.05). Our results show that individuals who had high Hsp70 levels generally showed lower genotoxic damage than others. These results suggest a role of Hsp70 in the protection of DNA from genotoxic damage induced by coke-oven emission.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chengfeng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jizhao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hai
authors.forename: Qiaofa
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Enling
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Ruibo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Tanguay
authors.forename: Tangchun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000633:toxicity*; D003077:Coke / Q000633:toxicity*; D020552:Comet Assay; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D048629:Micronuclei, Chromosome-Defective / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D015162:Micronucleus Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D003077:Coke; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D009153:Mutagens