Detection of pesticide effects in human keratinocytes by means of Raman microspectroscopy.

Biochemical modifications of single cells of human keratinocytes exposed to different concentrations of chlorpyriphos solutions were detected by means of Raman microspectroscopy. The modifications mainly consist of breakdown of amide linkage between aminoacids. Fragmentation of DNA bases and single aminoacids occurs as well. The protein and DNA damage are already detectable at a chlorpyriphos concentration value (10-6M), which is at least three orders of magnitude lower than the concentration estimated as cytotoxic (10-3M). Raman microspectroscopy technique results to be a very sensitive technique to detect molecular changes even in single human cells exposed to toxic pesticide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]