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Induction of Arsenite Tolerance and Thermotolerance by Arsenite Occur by Different Mechanisms
Zaolin Wang, Guoying Hou, and Toby G. Rossman
Norton Nelson Institute of Environmental Medicine and the Kaplan Cancer Center, New York University Medical Center, New York, New York
Abstract
Both V79 and As/R28A cells (an arsenite-resistant Chinese hamster V79 cell variant) show increased resistance to toxic concentrations of arsenite after pretreatment with a nontoxic concentration. The induced tolerance can be completely inhibited by actinomycin D or cycloheximide. Pretreatment with a nontoxic heat shock (45ºC, 10 min) resulted in a clear increased thermotolerance in both cell lines but failed to induce arsenite tolerance in either cell line. Pretreatment with arsenite induced a thermotolerance in V79 cells but not in As/R28A cells. These results are consistent with a model whereby the signal for induction of arsenite tolerance involves binding of arsenite to a protein effector which is amplified in the As/R28A line, thereby preventing action of arsenite in the regulation of heat shock factor which induces the heat shock response. -- Environ Health Perspect 102(Suppl 3):97-100 (1994).
Key words: Chinese hamster, cell lines, arsenic, heat shock toxicity
This paper was presented at the Second International Meeting on Molecular Mechanisms of Metal Toxicity and Carcinogenicity held 10-17 January 1993 in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy.
This work was supported by NCI grant CA29258 and the Electric Power Research Institute, and is part of NYU Institute of Environmental Medicine Center programs supported by grant CA13343 from the National Cancer Institute, grant ES00260 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and by American Cancer Society grant SIG-9. We thank Ms. Christine Winslow for her expert help in document preparation.
Address correspondence to Dr. Toby G. Rossman, Norton Nelson Institute of Environmental Medicine and Kaplan Cancer Center, NYU Medical Center, 550 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016. Telephone (914) 351-2380. Fax (914) 351-4825.