Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Molecular Basis For Effects Of Carcinogenic Heavy Metals On Inducible Gene Expression, Joshua W. Hamilton, Ronald C. Kaltreider, Olga V. Bajenova, Michael A. Ihnat, Jennifer Mccaffrey, Bruce W. Turpie, Erin E. Rowell, Jannet Oh, Michael J. Nemeth, Carrie A. Pesce, Jean P. Lariviere

Dartmouth Scholarship

Certain forms of the heavy metals arsenic and chromium are considered human carcinogens, although they are believed to act through very different mechanisms. Chromium(VI) is believed to act as a classic and mutagenic agent, and DNA/chromatin appears to be the principal target for its effects. In contrast, arsenic(III) is considered nongenotoxic, but is able to target specific cellular proteins, principally through sulfhydryl interactions. We had previously shown that various genotoxic chemical carcinogens, including chromium (VI), preferentially altered expression of several inducible genes but had little or no effect on constitutive gene expression. We were therefore interested in whether these carcinogenic …