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Mesothelioma is induced almost exclusively by exposure to asbestos fibers. We have investigated whether the induction of DNA damage in human bronchial epithelial BEAS 2B cells and human mesothelial MeT 5A cells by crocidolite asbestos (2 microg/cm2) requires the presence of asbestos fibers in the cells. DNA damage was measured microscopically by the Comet assay, and the presence of fibers in the same cells was assessed using bright-field illumination. After treatment times of 6-72 hr, damage levels were, on the average, two times higher in cells with fibers than in cells without fibers. It was further found that DNA damage decreased with time in BEAS 2B cells both with and without fibers. No decrease in damage with time was seen in MeT 5A cells, suggesting that these mesothelial cells repair the initial damage poorly, lack induction of protective systems, or constantly produce high levels of damaging species. Our results indicate that crocidolite-treated human mesothelial MeT 5A and bronchial epithelial BEAS 2B cells show an elevated level of DNA damage if they contain a fiber. In comparison with epithelial BEAS 2B cells, mesothelial MeT 5A cells have more DNA damage after the crocidolite treatment and the damage is more persistent.

To reveal genes relevant for malignant mesothelioma (MM), we carried out cDNA array experiments on 4 MM cell lines and 2 primary mesothelial cell cultures established from pleural fluid of non-cancer patients. Human cancer gene filters including 588 genes were used for the cDNA array experiments. Our study revealed 26 over-expressed genes that play a role in the regulation of cell fate, cell cycle, cell growth and DNA damage repair and 13 under-expressed genes encoding growth factors, receptors and proteins involved in cell adhesion, motility and invasion to be common to 3 or 4 MM cell lines. We confirmed the cDNA array results using RT-PCR for 5 of the over-expressed genes and for 3 of the under-expressed genes. Our study presents gene expression profiles in MM cell lines and shows the involvement of several genes, such as those encoding JAGGED1, ser/thr protein kinase NIK, Ku80 and cyclin D2, novel in MM., (Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Proliferation and apoptotic indices of tumour cells may have important prognostic significance. Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), an important anti-oxidant enzyme, has been shown to decrease proliferation of malignant cells transfected with the MnSOD gene. The aim of the present study was to investigate the indices of cell proliferation and apoptosis and their prognostic significance in human mesothelioma and to assess the effect of MnSOD on the proliferation and apoptosis of the mesothelioma cells expressing high constitutive MnSOD activity. Tissue sections from 35 subjects with malignant pleural mesothelioma were studied for cell proliferation by Ki-67 immunohistochemistry and for apoptosis by the TUNEL assay. In additional experiments, 2 mesothelioma cell lines expressing either low (M14K) or high (M38K) MnSOD levels were assessed for proliferative and apoptotic responses to epirubicin. The median proliferation and apoptotic indices of the mesothelioma tissue were 8.2% and 0.75%, respectively. Patients with a high proliferation (>8%) or apoptotic index (>0.75%) showed a worse prognosis (p < 0.001). MnSOD expression was inversely correlated with cell proliferation (p = 0.02). Our cell line experiments indicated that cells expressing high MnSOD levels were more resistant to apoptosis and showed lower proliferation when exposed to epirubicin in vitro. These findings show that high proliferation and apoptosis are associated with a poor prognosis of mesothelioma and that a high MnSOD level is associated with low proliferation of tumour cells. Furthermore, experiments with cultured mesothelioma cells suggest the importance of MnSOD in the proliferation and apoptosis caused by drug exposure., (Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Occupational asbestos exposure can be demonstrated in 80% of mesothelioma cases. A possible role of simian virus 40 (SV40) in the etiology of mesothelioma was raised because several studies reported the presence and expression of SV40-like DNA sequences in human mesotheliomas. It is also known that expression of SV40 large T antigen inhibits cellular Rb and p53. This suggests that SV40 might render infected cells more susceptible to asbestos carcinogenicity. The SV40-like sequences are suggested to have arisen from contaminated polio vaccines. Millions of people in the United States and most European countries were inoculated with SV40-contaminated polio vaccine in 1955-1963. However, in Finland, where polio vaccination started in 1957, no SV40-contaminated vaccine was used. We used a polymerase chain reaction-based method to test for the presence of SV40-like sequences in DNA extracted from the frozen tumor tissues of 49 Finnish mesothelioma patients, most of whom had been occupationally exposed to asbestos. All of the Finnish tumor tissues tested negative for SV40-like sequences. The results suggest that the SV40-like sequences detected in mesothelioma tissue in some previous studies may indeed originate from SV40-contaminated polio vaccines. It is a matter of speculation whether the absence of SV40 infection has contributed to the relatively low incidence of mesothelioma in Finland (1/10(5) in 1990-1995)., (Copyright 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

The mechanisms of the cellular effects and DNA damage caused by asbestos fibers in human mesothelial cells are not well understood. We exposed transformed human pleural mesothelial cells to 1-4 microg/cm2 crocidolite and to 10-100 ng/ml tumor necrosis factor alpha for up to 48 hr and studied the induction of DNA damage using the Comet assay. As a positive control, 100 microM H2O2 was used. The DNA single strand breaks were assessed as the mean tail moments and as distributions of the tail DNA in the cell. The Comet assay showed significant but reversible increases in the mean tail moments, but not in the distribution of Comet tails in the histograms in cells exposed to 1 microg/cm2 crocidolite for 6 hr. At higher concentrations of asbestos fibers all the indices in the Comet assay showed significant and irreversible change. All the doses of TNF-alpha caused marginal increase in the mean tail moments. The mean tail moments were highest in the cells with concurrent treatment to TNF-alpha and crocidolite. In the cells pretreated with inhibitors of antioxidant enzymes (aminotriazole for catalase and buthionine sulfoximine for gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase) asbestos fibers slightly increased oxidant-related fluorescence of dichlorofluorescein (DCFH) but did not cause any further increases in the mean tail moments. This study shows that asbestos fibers cause DNA single strand breaks in human mesothelial cells. Since the inhibition of antioxidant enzymes did not have an effect on the DNA damage caused by the fibers, other mechanisms than free radicals seem to be involved in the induction of DNA damage by mineral fibers.

We report the effects of chrysotile and crocidolite asbestos, and glass and rock wool fibers (man-made vitreous fibers, MMVF) on the induction of binucleate cells in vitro. The response of human mesothelial cells (target cells in fiber carcinogenesis) and rodent cells was compared. Human primary mesothelial cells, MeT-5A cells (an immortalized human mesothelial cell line), and rat liver epithelial (RLE) cells were exposed to asbestos and MMVF samples of similar size range. Milled glass wool, milled rock wool, and titanium dioxide were used as non-fibrous particle controls. All four fiber types caused statistically significant increases in the amount of binucleate cells in human primary mesothelial cells and MeT-5A cells (in the dose range 0.5-5.0 micrograms/cm2). Chrysotile and crocidolite asbestos were more effective (1.3-3.0-fold increases) than thin glass wool and thin rock wool fibers (1.3-2.2-fold increases). However, when the fiber doses were expressed as the number of fibers per culture area, the asbestos and MMVF appeared equally effective in human mesothelial cells. In RLE cells, chrysotile was the most potent inducer of binucleation (2.9-5.0-fold increases), but the response of the RLE cells to crocidolite, thin glass wool, and thin rock wool fibers was similar to the response of the human mesothelial cells. No statistically significant increases in the number of bi- or multinucleate cells were observed in human primary mesothelial cells or RLE cells exposed to the non-fibrous dusts. In MeT-5A cells exposed to 5 micrograms/cm2 of milled glass wool and milled rock wool, as well as in cultures exposed to 2 and 5 micrograms/cm2 of TiO2, significant increases were, however, observed. Our results show that rodent cells respond differently to mineral fibers than human cells. The results also add evidence to the suggested importance of disturbed cell division in fiber carcinogenesis.

The induction of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) was studied in the peripheral lymphocytes of workers spraying foliage in forestry with phenoxy acid herbicides 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) or their mixtures. In order to follow possible exposure-related changes in the frequencies of SCEs, three successive blood samples were taken from 50 male sprayers during the spraying season of July-October, 1981. In addition, 15 control subjects not working with herbicides were included in the study. The actual exposure levels of the exposed subjects were estimated by measuring the concentrations of 2,4-D and MCPA in the urine of the sprayers. Enough cells for the SCE analysis were obtained from 35 herbicide workers and 15 control subjects. The concentrations of 2,4-D and MCPA in the urine samples after exposure varied from 0.00 to 10.99 mg/l. No significant differences in the frequencies of SCEs were observed in samples taken before, during, or after the exposure. Furthermore, the means of SCEs in a nonexposed control group of 15 subjects fell in the same range as those of the exposed subjects. A difference in the means of SCEs was observed between nonsmokers and smokers, smokers having significantly higher mean values than nonsmokers. The results of the present study add support to the earlier data indicating that 2,4-D and MCPA do not act as direct DNA-damaging agents.