TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of cadmium on metallothionein levels in human peripheral blood leukocytes
T2 - A comparison with zinc
AU - Yurkow, Edward J.
AU - Decoste, Christina J.
N1 - Funding Information:
Received 23 February 1999; sent for revision 25 March 1999; accepted 14 July 1999. This work was supported, in part, by the NIEHS Center of Excellence Grant (ES-05022), the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP) Grant DOE DE-FC01-95EW55084, and funding from the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Address correspondence to Edward J. Yurkow, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, 170 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8020, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
PY - 1999
Y1 - 1999
N2 - Metallothioneins (MT) are low-molecular-weight, cysteine-rich proteins that are induced in response to a variety of chemical stresses and therefore can be used to assess human exposure to environmental agents. In the current study, flow cytometry was used to characterize the basal and cadmium-induced expression of MT in the three major leukocyte populations of human peripheral blood. In the analysis, monocytes were the most sensitive leukocytes to this toxic metal, with significant increases in cellular MT levels being detected at concentrations of cadmium as low as 0.1 μM (24 h). The lymphocyte population also exhibited pronounced treatment-associated elevations in cellular MT, while the granulocyte population was found to be nonresponsive. Although both CdCl2 (3 μM) and ZnCl2 (50 μM) induced MT expression in monocytes to a similar degree and did not affect the expression of this protein in granulocytes, cadmium but not zinc treatment induced dramatic increases in MT levels of lymphocytes. Our results indicate that cellular MT protein levels, as determined by this flow cytometric method, may be used to characterize the differential responsiveness of the major human leukocyte subpopulations to transitional metals. It is evident from the current work that the responsiveness of all peripheral blood leukocyte populations should be analyzed in exposure assessment studies.
AB - Metallothioneins (MT) are low-molecular-weight, cysteine-rich proteins that are induced in response to a variety of chemical stresses and therefore can be used to assess human exposure to environmental agents. In the current study, flow cytometry was used to characterize the basal and cadmium-induced expression of MT in the three major leukocyte populations of human peripheral blood. In the analysis, monocytes were the most sensitive leukocytes to this toxic metal, with significant increases in cellular MT levels being detected at concentrations of cadmium as low as 0.1 μM (24 h). The lymphocyte population also exhibited pronounced treatment-associated elevations in cellular MT, while the granulocyte population was found to be nonresponsive. Although both CdCl2 (3 μM) and ZnCl2 (50 μM) induced MT expression in monocytes to a similar degree and did not affect the expression of this protein in granulocytes, cadmium but not zinc treatment induced dramatic increases in MT levels of lymphocytes. Our results indicate that cellular MT protein levels, as determined by this flow cytometric method, may be used to characterize the differential responsiveness of the major human leukocyte subpopulations to transitional metals. It is evident from the current work that the responsiveness of all peripheral blood leukocyte populations should be analyzed in exposure assessment studies.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033550226&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0033550226&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/009841099157278
DO - 10.1080/009841099157278
M3 - Article
C2 - 10598956
AN - SCOPUS:0033550226
SN - 1528-7394
VL - 58
SP - 313
EP - 327
JO - Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health - Part A
JF - Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health - Part A
IS - 5
ER -