The human bladder is one of the primary target organs for arsenic-induced carcinogenicity, and arsenic metabolites in urine have been suspected to be directly involved in carcinogenesis. Thioarsenicals are commonly found in human and animal urine and are also considered to be highly toxic arsenic metabolites. The present study was performed to gain insight into the toxicity and accumulation of arsenic species found in urine, including arsenate (iAs(V)), arsenite (iAs(III)), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA(V)), monomethylmonothioarsonic acid (MMMTA(V)), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA(V)), dimethylarsinous acid (DMA(III)), dimethylmonothioarsinic acid, (DMMTA(V)), and dimethyldithioarsinic acid (DMDTA(V)) in human bladder cancer EJ-1 cells. The order of cytotoxicity of these arsenic compounds in EJ-1 human bladder cancer cells was DMA(III), DMMTA(V) > iAs(III) ≫ iAs(V) > MMMTA(V) > MMA(V), DMA(V), and DMDTA(V), indicating that the sulfur-containing DMMTA(V) was among the most toxic arsenic compounds similar to trivalent DMA(III). We further characterized the DNA damage, generation of highly reactive oxygen species (hROS), and expression of proteins p21 and p53 in cells after exposure to iAs(III), DMA(III), and DMMTA(V). Cellular exposure to DMMTA(V) resulted in reduced protein expression of p53 and p21, increased DNA damage, and increased intracellular hROS (hydroxyl radical). In contrast, iAs(III) significantly increased the protein expression of p21 and p53 and did not increase the hROS at the IC(50). Intracellular glutathione (GSH) was reduced by 60% after exposure to DMA(III) or DMMTA(V), suggesting that DMMTA(V) causes cell death through oxidative stress. In contrast, GSH levels increased in cells exposed to iAs(III), and hROS only increased after a long exposure to iAs(III). Our findings demonstrate that DMMTA(V) may be one of the most toxicologically potent arsenic species, relevant to arsenic-induced carcinogenicity in the urinary bladder.

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Excessive generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is considered to play an important role in arsenic-induced carcinogenicity in the liver, lungs, and urinary bladder. However, little is known about the mechanism of ROS-based carcinogenicity, including where the ROS are generated, and which arsenic species are the most effective ROS inducers. In order to better understand the mechanism of arsenic toxicity, rat liver RLC-16 cells were exposed to arsenite (iAs(III)) and its intermediate metabolites [i.e., monomethylarsonous acid (MMA(III)) and dimethylarsinous acid (DMA(III))]. MMA(III) (IC(50) = 1 μM) was found to be the most toxic form, followed by DMA(III) (IC(50) = 2 μM) and iAs(III) (IC(50) = 18 μM). Following exposure to MMA(III), ROS were found to be generated primarily in the mitochondria. DMA(III) exposure resulted in ROS generation in other organelles, while no ROS generation was seen following exposures to low levels of iAs(III). This suggests the mechanisms of induction of ROS are different among the three arsenicals. The effects of iAs(III), MMA(III), and DMA(III) on activities of complexes I-IV in the electron transport chain (ETC) of rat liver submitochondrial particles and on the stimulation of ROS production in intact mitochondria were also studied. Activities of complexes II and IV were significantly inhibited by MMA(III), but only the activity of complexes II was inhibited by DMA(III). Incubation with iAs(III) had no inhibitory effects on any of the four complexes. Generation of ROS in intact mitochondria was significantly increased following incubation with MMA(III), while low levels of ROS generation were observed following incubation with DMA(III). ROS was not produced in mitochondria following exposure to iAs(III). The mechanism underlying cell death is different among As(III), MMA(III), and DMA(III), with mitochondria being one of the primary target organelles for MMA(III)-induced cytotoxicity.

The tumor suppressor p53 is essential for several cellular processes that are involved in the response to diverse genotoxic stress, including cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, apoptosis and senescence. Studies of the regulation of p53 have mostly focused on its stability and transactivation; however, new regulatory molecules for p53 have also been frequently identified. Here, we report that human ssDNA binding protein SSB1 (hSSB1), a novel DNA damageassociated protein, can interact with p53 and protect p53 from ubiquitin-mediated degradation. Furthermore, hSSB1 also associates with the acetyltransferase p300 and is required for efficient transcriptional activation of the p53 target gene p21 by affecting the acetylation of p53 at lysine382. Functionally, the hSSB1 knockdown-induced abrogation of the G2/M checkpoint is partially dependent on p53 or p300. Collectively, our results indicate that hSSB1 may regulate DNA damage checkpoints by positively modulating p53 and its downstream target p21.

The coronavirus disease 2019, named COVID-19 officially by the World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland) on February 12, 2020, has spread at unprecedented speed. After the first outbreak in Wuhan, China, Chinese anesthesiologists encountered increasing numbers of infected patients since December 2019. Because the main route of transmission is via respiratory droplets and close contact, anesthesia providers are at a high risk when responding to the devastating mass emergency. So far, actions have been taken including but not limited to nationwide actions and online education regarding special procedures of airway management, oxygen therapy, ventilation support, hemodynamic management, sedation, and analgesia. As the epidemic situation has lasted for months (thus far), special platforms have also been set up to provide free mental health care to all anesthesia providers participating in acute and critical caring for COVID-19 patients. The current article documents the actions taken, lesson learned, and future work needed.