The Effects of the Pesticide Acephate on PG19 Mouse Amelanotic Melanoma Cells.

The pesticide Acephate is commonly used across the United States as a popular insecticide. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies Acephate as a possible human carcinogen. Other studies have addressed the possible carcinogenicity of Acephate in living mice and other cell lines, but none have evaluated the amelanotic mouse melanoma PG19 cell line. PG19 cells were used to evaluate the effects of Acephate because individuals most at risk of exposure to Acephate are also at risk of developing melanoma. The effects of short-term exposure to various concentrations of Acephate (10, 100, and 1000µg/ml) were investigated on PG19 cells through trypan blue exclusion cell viability and scratch wound healing assays. Based on experimental evidence, treatment with Acephate was expected to increase proliferation and migration rates indicating a role in carcinogenesis and metastasis within a PG19 melanoma cell model. Treatment with Acephate resulted in significant decreases in cell viability of PG19 cells at 24 hours. Exposure to 1000µg/mL of Acephate had a cytotoxic effect. At 24 hours, there were no significant differences in scratch wound width between Acephate treatments. Comparison and evaluation of the mechanisms of previously published findings of pro-carcinogenic effects in longer-term assays compared to the cell toxicity in the short-term experiments performed in these studies is important in determining the risk assessment of the continued usage of Acephate in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]