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The mechanism of environmental pollution promoting gastric cancer incidence and difficulty of treatment is not fully understood. In the present article, perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), a common persistent environmental pollutant, was used to treat the gastric cell lines and mice to test its genotoxicity. The γ-H2AX immunoblot and plasmid fragment PCR results showed that PFDA had a promotion effect on the DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in human and mouse cells. Subsequent results showed that PFDA significantly altered the sensitivity of cells to chemotherapy. Microarray data showed that the expressions of some important DNA repair genes were changed. Further investigation discovered that PFDA inhibition of DNA repair was mediated by X-ray repair cross complementing 4 (XRCC4). The cells deficient in XRCC4 generally exhibited reduced proliferation and premature aging in culture; however, our results indicated that PFDA induced p53 inhibition rescued cells from the apoptosis that was triggered by nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) inactivation, and overexpression of p53 expression in PFDA-treated cells enhanced their apoptosis. Finally, T-cell specific factor 4 was suggested by the results as an upstream regulator of XRCC4. This article revealed for the first time that perfluorinated chemicals affect chemotherapeutic sensitivity and the NHEJ pathway, and p53 reduction rescues cells from death.

Exocytosis of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) determines therapeutic efficiency and toxicity of nanoproducts but its underlying mechanism remains elusive. In this study, it is found that the exocytosis mechanism of SWCNTs is mediated mainly through the activation of P2X7 receptor (P2X7 R), an ATP-gated membrane receptor highly expressed in macrophages. Inhibition of P2X7 R signaling by either a specific inhibitor (oxidized ATP) or small interfering RNA targeting P2X7 R largely prevents the exocytosis of SWCNTs from Raw264.7 cells, resulting in significant accumulation of SWCNTs within cells. In contrast, activation of P2X7 R with ATP promotes exocytosis of SWCNTs. Specifically, it is elucidated that internalized SWCNTs are accumulated in lysosomes and induce transitional release of ATP into extracellular space, which further activates P2X7 R, leading to the influx of calcium ions, phosphorylation of protein kinase C, ERK1/2, p38, and JNK, as well as alkalization of lysosomes. SWCNTs exposure also induces microtubules reorganization that facilitates the secretion of SWCNTs-containing lysosomes. It is also found that P2X7 R simultaneously mediates secretion of IL-1β from Raw264.7 cells during the process of SWCNTs exocytosis. The combined data reveals that P2X7 R-mediated pathway is the predominant molecular mechanism for exocytosis of SWCNTs in Raw264.7 cells. Moreover, SWCNT-induced inflammation is closely coupled with the exocytosis of SWCNTs through P2X7 R.

Direct electrochemistry of site-specific mutants of yeast iso-1-cytochrome c (cyt c) and their complexes with bovine cytochrome b5 (cyt b5) has been investigated at edge-plane pyrolytic graphite (EPG) and bis(4-pyridyl)-disulphide-modified gold electrodes. Structure/function relationships have been investigated with the particular aim of clarifying the factors controlling the interactions of proteins at electrode/electrolyte interfaces and the determinants for direct electrochemistry in ternary protein/protein/electrode adducts, e.g. cyt c/cyt b5/EPG. Investigations of the cyt c mutants alone revealed a variety of electrochemical responses: all the mutants show similar voltammetric reversibility at modified gold electrodes, whereas at EPG electrodes the reversibility follows the order: Asn52Ile-Cys102Thr greater than Cys102Thr greater than Asn52Ala-Cys102Thr. Mid-point potentials follow the order: Arg13Ile (+60 +/- 5 mV vs. standard calomel electrode) greater than Cys102Thr (+40 +/- 5 mV) greater than Lys27Gln (+30 +/- 5 mV) approximately Lys72Asp (+30 +/- 5 mV) greater than Asn52Ala-Cys102Thr (+15 +/- 5 mV) greater than Asn52Ile-Cys102Thr (-10 +/- 5 mV). The structural basis for these differences is briefly discussed. When these mutants are bound to cyt b5, the differences in electrochemical response are greatly enhanced in the ternary cyt c/cyt b5/EPG adducts. A minimal analysis of these differences supports a model of multiple overlapping binding and recognition domains on cyt c which may be finely tuned to allow ternary complex formation so that a single-site variation could modify or abolish direct electrochemistry in the ternary adduct.

Noncovalent interaction of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) with DNA is the first step in their DNA-damaging actions. The binding interaction of 15 PACs with DNA was investigated by the fluorescence displacement method. A DNA-binding dye with known binding mode was employed as the fluorescence probe. Addition of a DNA-binding PAC into the dye/DNA conjugate sets up a competition between the probe and the PAC for DNA and results in a reduction in fluorescence signal. When thiazole orange, a DNA intercalator, was employed as the probe, the dissociation constants of 1-hydroxypyrene, 1-aminopyrene, and 1-pyrenebutyric acid with calf thymus DNA were determined to be 0.62, 1.1, and 4.7 microM, respectively. Other PACs, with two to five fused aromatic rings, showed displacement similar to that of 1-pyrenebutyric acid. When the DNA groove-binding agents Hoechst 33258 and 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole were used as the probe, none of the PACs exhibited any significant competition with the probe for DNA. The fluorescence data and the viscosity measurement revealed that these PACs interact with DNA predominantly by intercalation instead of the groove-binding mode. The results also suggested that the polar groups on the periphery of the PAC's aromatic ring play a more important role than the number of aromatic rings in determining the binding affinities with DNA. The fluorescence displacement method provides a convenient tool for rapidly investigating the relationship between PAC structure and its DNA-binding properties.