Effects of Trivalent Arsenicals on Cell Proliferation and Apoptosis in Human E pidermal Keratinocytes / 中华皮肤科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effects of trivalent arsenicals on ce ll proliferation and induction of apoptosis in human epidermal keratinocytes. Me thods Human benign epidermal keratinocytes (cell line HaCaT), human epidermal ca rcinoma cells(cell line A431) were cultured. After treatment with arsenous acid, inhibition of cellular growth was determined by measuring MTT dye absorption of living cells.Apoptosis was assessed with respect to morphological changes by li ght and electron microscopy and to cell cycle distribution by flow cytometry. An nexin-ⅴbinding assay was used to detect the early stage of apoptosis. Results With concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 10 ?mol/L, arsenous acid significantly inhibited the proliferation of HaCaT cells in a dose-and time-dependent manner . By light and electron microscopy, morphological changes revealed characteristi cs of apoptosis. But A431 cells showed no obvious change. DNA flow cytometric an alysis indicated that arsenous acid induced an arrest in G2M phase and sub-G1 p hase in HaCaT compared with A431 cells. The green flurorescence indicated early stage of apoptosis in HaCaT cells by annexin-V binding assay. Conclusion Arseno us acid may inhibit the proliferation of HaCaT cells and induce apoptosis, but d oes not affect A431 cell line obviously, which suggests that HaCaT cells are mor e sensitive to arsenous acid compared with A431 cells.