Cyto- and genotoxicity of a vanadyl(IV) complex with oxodiacetate in human colon adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cells: potential use in cancer therapy.

The complex of vanadyl(IV) cation with oxodiacetate, VO(oda) caused an inhibitory effect on the proliferation of the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line Caco-2 in the range of 25-100 µM (P < 0.001). This inhibition was partially reversed by scavengers of free radicals. The difference in cell proliferation in the presence and the absence of scavengers was statistically significant in the range of 50-100 µM (P < 0.05). VO(oda) altered lysosomal and mitochondria metabolisms (neutral red and MTT bioassays) in a dose-response manner from 10 µM (P < 0.001). Morphological studies showed important transformations that correlated with the disassembly of actin filaments and a decrease in the number of cells in a dose response manner. Moreover, VO(oda) caused statistically significant genotoxic effects on Caco-2 cells in the low range of concentration (5-25 µM) (Comet assay). Increment in the oxidative stress and a decrease in the GSH level are the main cytotoxic mechanisms of VO(oda). These effects were partially reversed by scavengers of free radicals in the range of 50-100 µM (P < 0.05). Besides, VO(oda) interacted with plasmidic DNA causing single and double strand cleavage, probably through the action of free radical species. Altogether, these results suggest that VO(oda) is a good candidate to be evaluated for alternative therapeutics in cancer treatment.

Biocompatibility of magnesium particles evaluated by in vitro cytotoxicity and genotoxicity assays.

Mg is a biodegradable biomaterial which may release particles (MP) to the environment. The possible cyto- and genotoxic effects of MP derived from magnesium powder (mesh 325) were analyzed on rat osteosarcoma UMR106 cells in order simulate the effect of Mg debris. Neutral red (NR) incorporation and acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining techniques were used as endpoints to analyze the cytotoxic effects at 25-1000 µg/mL concentration range. Genotoxicity was estimated according to micronucleus (MN) formation and the Comet assay (CA). Results showed that MP size changes with time due to corrosion. Changes in lysosomal activity were observed after 24 h only at 1000 µg/mL. Accordingly, AO/EB staining showed a significant decrease in the number of living cells at 500 µg/mL. Transmission electronic microscopy showed MP internalization (60 and 200 nm diameter) in cells after 2-h treatment, whereas no MP was detected after 24 h. A significant dose-dependent increase in MN frequencies was observed at 25-100 µg/mL range (nontoxic range). DNA damage induction was assessed by CA only at 500 µg/mL. Results showed dose-dependent cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of MP on UMR106 cells with different threshold values of MP concentration.

Response of UMR 106 cells exposed to titanium oxide and aluminum oxide nanoparticles.

The cytotoxicity potential of TiO(2) and Al(2)O(3) nanoparticles (NP) in UMR 106 cells was studied by evaluating the lysosomal activity with neutral red uptake assay (NR), and the mitochondrial activity with tetrazolium MTT test. Different NP concentrations (10-300 microg/mL range) were used. A significant (p < 0.001) increase in the absorbance (stronger for TiO(2) NP) was detected in both NR and MTT assays after 24-h exposure to the NP. However, the total cell proteins and the cell proliferation rate demonstrated (p < 0.05) that the cell viability decreased after 96 h exposure to NP. The formation of NP-containing vesicles within the cells was observed by transmission electronic microscopy. Such event could explain the high cellular activity detected during the early stages of exposure not related to the increase in cell viability. Results showed that the effects of NP on cell lines are dependent on the chemical composition of the particles, their concentration, exposure time, and the type of treated cell. It can be concluded that the presence of TiO(2) and Al(2)O(3) NP in the cell surroundings can lead to cytotoxic effects. In the case of osteoblast cells, such events may induce osseointegration failures in orthopedic and dental implants that release NP.

Vitamin E prevents ethylene bis(dithiocarbamate) pesticide zineb-induced sister chromatid exchange in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

The in vitro effect of the antioxidant alpha-tocopherol, vitamin E, on deleterious effects induced by the dithiocarbamate fungicide zineb and its commercial formulation azzurro on Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells was studied by using frequency of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs), cell cycle progression and mitotic index (MI) as genetic end points. Both zineb and azzurro activities were tested within the range 0.1-100.0 microg/ml on exponentially growing CHO cells preincubated for 24 h in the presence or absence of 50.0 microg/ml vitamin E. SCE frequencies increased significantly over control values in a concentration-dependent manner in zineb- and azzurro-treated cultures at concentrations of 0.1-10.0 and 0.1-25.0 microg/ml, respectively. When target cells were preincubated with vitamin E, the number of SCEs was significantly lower than that observed in cells exposed only to 1.0-10.0 microg/ml zineb or 1.0-25.0 microg/ml azzurro, but higher than control values. Cytotoxicity was observed at concentrations higher than 25.0 and 50.0 microg/ml zineb and azzurro, respectively, regardless of the absence or presence of vitamin E. Regression analysis showed that the proliferative rate index decreased as a function of the concentration of zineb (0.1-10.0 microg/ml concentration range) and azzurro (0.1-25.0 microg/ml concentration range) titrated into cultures. For both chemicals, progressive concentration-related inhibition of the mitotic activity from cultures was observed when 10.0 microg/ml zineb or 1.0-25.0 microg/ml azzurro was employed. However, no significant alteration in cell cycle progression or MI was observed between vitamin E-preincubated cultures and those treated only with zineb and azzurro.

Variation in sister chromatid exchange frequencies and cell-cycle kinetics between human whole blood and plasma leukocyte cultures

Os efeitos da concentraçäo de bromodeoxiuridine (BUdR) e o comprimento do período de síntese (S) na freqüência basal de intercâmbios de cromátides irmäs (SCEs)e na taxa de proliferaçäo de culturas de sangue total (WBC) e de leucócitos plasmáticos (PLC) humanos foram estudados. Um método imunofluorescente foi usado para induzir a diferenciaçäo de cromátides irmäs. Este método emprega uma baixa concentraçäo de BUdR para a marcaçäo de cromossomos durante o primeiro ciclo celular in vitro (3,3µM), e o anticorpo monoclonal anti-BUdR conjugado com fluoresceína isotiocianada (FITC) para detecçäo. Permitiu-se que WBC e PLC crescessem durante o primeiro ciclo celular (48h) na presença de BUdR; o meio de cultura foi entäo substituído pelo meio de cultura sem BUdR e as células foram cultivadas por um ciclo celular adicional (24h) até a colheita (72h). Os cromossomos foram contrastados com iodeto de propidium DAPI. PLC mostrou no mínimo um aumento em dobro na freqüência de SCE sobre os valores de WBC e a paralela, independente da concentraçäo de BUdR no meio de cultura, pelo menos na faixa do análogo de base empregada (3,3µM-33,0µM). Além disso, uma estimativa do comprimento do período S, feita pela análise da proporçäo de diferentes tempos de colheira, revelou que PLC tem um período S marcadamente extenso, comparado a WBC. Conseqüentemente, a taxa de deslocamento de fork do DNA de linfócitos em PLC poderia ser mais lenta que em WBC, resultando em um aumento na freqüência de SCE destas culturas.