p53 activation by Cr(VI): a transcriptionally limited response induced by ATR kinase in S-phase

Monoubiquitinated H2B, a Main Chromatin Target of Formaldehyde, Is Important for S-Phase Checkpoint Signaling and Genome Stability

Formaldehyde (FA) is a human carcinogen with ubiquitous environmental exposures and significant endogenous formation. Genotoxic activity of FA stems from its reactivity with DNA-NH2 groups. Histone lysines are another source of aldehyde-reactive amino groups in chromatin, however, chromatin/histone damage responses to FA and their biological significance are poorly understood. We examined histone posttranslational modifications in FA-treated human lung cells and found that the majority of the most prominent small lysine modifications associated with active or inactive chromatin were unchanged. FA moderately decreased H3K9 and H3K27 acetylation and H2A-K119 monoubiquitination but caused surprisingly severe losses of H2B-K120 monoubiquitination, especially in primary and stem-like cells. H2Aub1 decreases reflected its slower ubiquitination linked to a lower ubiquitin availability due to K48-polyubiquitination of FA-damaged proteins. Depletion of H2Bub1 resulted from its rapid deubiquitination in part by ATXN7L3-associated deubiquitinases and was independent on DNA damage signaling, indicating a direct chromatin damage response. Manipulations of H2Bub1 abundance showed that it was important for robust ATM and ATR signaling, efficient S-phase checkpoint, and suppression of mitotic transmission of unreplicated DNA and formation of micronuclei. Our findings identified H2B deubiquitination as a major FA-induced chromatin damage response that regulates S-phase checkpoint signaling and genome stability.

The effect of the nucleolar protein ZNF385A on the ribosomal DNA copy number variation in response to Cr(VI)-induced DNA damage

Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] is a widely distributed carcinogen in industrial contexts and general environmental contexts. Emerging research highlights the central role of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) in DNA Damage Responses (DDRs). However, there remains a lack of investigation into the potential dose-dependent relationship between exposure to Cr(VI) and alterations in rDNA copy number (CN), as well as the related mechanisms underlying these effects. A molecular epidemiological investigation involving 67 workers exposed to Cr(VI) and 75 unexposed controls was conducted. There was a notable increase in ZNF385A expression, variations in rDNA CN, and elevated γH2AX levels in the peripheral blood of Cr(VI)-exposed workers. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) models showed that blood Cr levels in the exposed population exhibited non-linear dose-dependent relationships with γH2AX, rDNA CN, and ZNF385A. Of considerable interest, there were robust and positive associations between ZNF385A and both γH2AX and rDNA CN. Further in vitro experiments provided concrete evidence that Cr(VI) simultaneously caused an increase in ZNF385A expression and variations in rDNA CN. ZNF385A-depleted cells showed increased sensitivity to Cr(VI)-mediated DDRs and alterations in rDNA CN. This study indicated that ZNF385A played a highly significant role in the rDNA CN variation in response to Cr(VI)-induced DNA damage.

Atypical genotoxicity of carcinogenic nickel(II): Linkage to dNTP biosynthesis, DNA-incorporated rNMPs, and impaired repair of TOP1-DNA crosslinks

Cancer is a genetic disease requiring multiple mutations for its development. However, many carcinogens are DNA-unreactive and nonmutagenic and consequently described as nongenotoxic. One of such carcinogens is nickel, a global environmental pollutant abundantly emitted by burning of coal. We investigated activation of DNA damage responses by Ni and identified this metal as a replication stressor. Genotoxic stress markers indicated the accumulation of ssDNA and stalled replication forks, and Ni-treated cells were dependent on ATR for suppression of DNA damage and long-term survival. Replication stress by Ni resulted from destabilization of RRM1 and RRM2 subunits of ribonucleotide reductase and the resulting deficiency in dNTPs. Ni also increased DNA incorporation of rNMPs (detected by a specific fluorescent assay) and strongly enhanced their genotoxicity as a result of repressed repair of TOP1-DNA protein crosslinks (TOP1-DPC). The DPC-trap assay found severely impaired SUMOylation and K48-polyubiquitination of DNA-crosslinked TOP1 due to downregulation of specific enzymes. Our findings identified Ni as the human carcinogen inducing genome instability via DNA-embedded ribonucleotides and accumulation of TOP1-DPC which are carcinogenic abnormalities with poor detectability by the standard mutagenicity tests. The discovered mechanisms for Ni could also play a role in genotoxicity of other protein-reactive carcinogens.

ATR activation by Cr-DNA damage is a major survival response establishing late S and G2 checkpoints after Cr(VI) exposure

Inhalation exposure to hexavalent chromium is known to cause lung cancer and other pulmonary toxicity. Cellular metabolism of chromium(VI) entering cells as chromate anion produces different amounts of reactive Cr(V) intermediates and finally yields Cr(III). Direct reduction of Cr(VI) by ascorbate (Asc), the dominant metabolic reaction in vivo but not in standard cell cultures, skips production of Cr(V) but still permits extensive formation of Cr-DNA damage. To understand the importance of different forms of biological injury in Cr(VI) toxicity, we examined activation of several protein- and DNA damage-sensitive stress responses in human lung cells under Asc-restored conditions. We found that Asc-restored cells suppressed upregulation of oxidant-sensitive stress systems by Cr(VI) but showed a strong activation of the apical DNA damage-responsive kinase ATR. ATR signaling was triggered in late S phase and persisted upon entry of cells into G2 phase. Inhibition of ATR prevented the establishment of late-S and G2 cell cycle checkpoints and did not lead to a compensatory activation of a related kinase ATM. Inactivation of ATR also strongly impaired viability of Cr(VI)-treated lung cells including stem-like cells and revealed a significant formation of toxic Cr-DNA damage at low Cr(VI) doses. Our findings identified a major Cr(VI) resistance mechanism involving sensing of Cr-DNA damage by ATR in late S phase and a subsequent establishment of protective cell cycle checkpoints.

Toxic and carcinogenic effects of hexavalent chromium in mammalian cells in vivo and in vitro: a recent update

Chromium VI (Cr (VI)) can cross cell membranes readily and causes the formation of Cr-DNA adducts, genomic damages, elevation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and alteration of survival signaling pathways, as evidenced by the modulation in p53 signaling pathway. Mammals, including humans are exposed to Cr, including Cr (VI), frequently through inhalation, drinking water, and food. Several studies demonstrated that Cr (VI) induces cellular death through apoptosis and autophagy, genotoxicity, functional alteration of mitochondria, endocrine and reproductive impairments. In the present review, studies on deleterious effects of Cr (VI) exposure to mammalian cells (in vivo and in vitro) have been documented. Special attention is paid to the underlying molecular mechanism of Cr (VI) toxicity.

Chemical mechanisms of DNA damage by carcinogenic chromium(VI)

Hexavalent chromium is a firmly established human carcinogen with documented exposures in many professional groups. Environmental exposure to Cr(VI) is also a significant public health concern. Cr(VI) exists in aqueous solutions as chromate anion that is unreactive with DNA and requires reductive activation inside the cells to produce genotoxic and mutagenic effects. Reduction of Cr(VI) in cells is nonenzymatic and in vivo principally driven by ascorbate with a secondary contribution from nonprotein thiols glutathione and cysteine. In addition to its much faster rate of reduction, ascorbate-driven metabolism avoids the formation of Cr(V) which is the first intermediate in Cr(VI) reduction by thiols. The end-product of Cr(VI) reduction is Cr(III) which forms several types of Cr-DNA adducts that are collectively responsible for all mutagenic and genotoxic effects in Cr(VI) reactions with ascorbate and thiols. Some Cr(V) forms can react with H2O2 to produce DNA-oxidizing peroxo species although this genotoxic pathway is suppressed in cells with physiological levels of ascorbate. Chemical reactions of Cr(VI) with ascorbate or thiols lack directly DNA-oxidizing metabolites. The formation of oxidative DNA breaks in early studies of these reactions was caused by iron contamination. Production of Cr(III)-DNA adducts in cells showed linear dose-dependence irrespective of the predominant reduction pathway and their processing by mismatch repair generated more toxic secondary genetic lesions in euchromatin. Overall, Cr(III)-DNA adduction is the dominant pathway for the formation of genotoxic and mutagenic DNA damage by carcinogenic Cr(VI).

Ascorbate: antioxidant and biochemical activities and their importance for in vitro models

Ascorbate has many biological activities that involve fundamental cellular functions such as gene expression, differentiation, and redox homeostasis. Biochemically, it serves as a cofactor for a large family of dioxygenases (> 60 members) which control transcription, formation of extracellular matrix, and epigenetic processes of histone and DNA demethylation. Ascorbate is also a major antioxidant acting as a very effective scavenger of primary reactive oxygen species. Reduction of Fe(III) by ascorbate is important for cellular uptake of iron via DMT1. Cell culture models are extensively used in toxicology and pharmacology for mechanistic studies of nutrients, drugs and other xenobiotics. High-throughput screens in vitro, such as a large-scale Tox21 program in the US, offers opportunities to assess hazardous properties of a vast and growing number of industrial chemicals. However, cells in typical cultures are severely deficient in ascorbate, raising concerns about their ability to accurately recapitulate toxic and other responses in vivo. Scarcity of ascorbate and a frequently unrecognized use of media with its thiol substitute alters stress sensitivity of cells in different directions. Remediation of ascorbate deficiency in tissue culture restores the physiological state of many cellular processes and it should improve a currently limited toxicity predictability of in vitro bioassays.

Nuclear and Cytoplasmic Functions of Vitamin C

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a water-soluble antioxidant and a cofactor for a large number of enzymes. It is present in all tissues and especially abundant in corneal epithelium, stem cells, and neurons. Although similar to thiols in its ability to react with many reactive oxygen species (ROS), ascorbate is much better (>100× faster) than glutathione at scavenging of primary ROS (superoxide radical and singlet oxygen). Ascorbate appears to be especially important for elimination of O₂^•– in the nucleus which contains little or no SOD activity. Cofactor functions of ascorbate involve the maintenance of activity of Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases via reduction of Fe(III). The most prominent activity of ascorbate-dependent dioxygenases in the cytoplasm is hydroxylation of prolines in proteins involved in the formation of extracellular matrix and regulation of metabolism and hypoxia responses. In the nucleus, ascorbate is important for oxidative demethylation of 5-methylcytosine in DNA (by TET proteins) and removal of methyl groups from histone lysines (by JmjC demethylases). Differentiation and other cellular reprograming processes involving DNA demethylation are especially sensitive to ascorbate insufficiency. High doses of vitamin C alone or in combinations with drugs produced cancer-suppressive effects which involved redox, immune, and epigenetic mechanisms. Solutions to vitamin C deficiency in cultured cells are discussed to improve the physiological relevance of in vitro models. An abundance of vitamin C in rodents limits their ability to fully recapitulate human sensitivity to adverse health effects of malnutrition and xenobiotics, including neurotoxicity, lung injury, and intergenerational and other epigenetic effects.