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Transactivation of RARE and GRE in the cellular response to arsenic

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Abstract

Arsenic compounds are a somewhat unique class of metals, which have been considered as both carcinogens and chemotherapeutic agents for cancers. Tumor promotion effects of arsenic are believed to be associated with its transactivational activities on transcription factors, such as AP‐1 and NFκB, while the induction of cell apoptosis and differentiation by arsenic is considered to be a mechanism for the chemotherapeutic effects of arsenic. Here, we found that exposure of cells to arsenite and arsenate leads to transactivation of retinoic acid response elements (RARE) and glucocorticoid response elements (GRE) in mouse epidermal JB6 cells. These inductions occur in a time‐dependent manner. Furthermore, induction of RARE activity by arsenic was synergistically enhanced by co‐treatment of cells with retinoic acid, while GRE activation by arsenic was not affected by combined treatment of cells with fluocinolone acetonide (FA). In consideration of the important role of RARE and GRE in induction of cell differentiation, we speculate that transactivation of RARE and GRE by arsenic may be involved in its induction of cell differentiation and anti-cancer activities in addition to its induction of apoptosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nelson Institute of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, NY, 10016, USA

    Chuanshu Huang, Jingxia Li & Max Costa

  2. Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, WV, 26505, USA

    Min Ding, Vincent Castranova, Val Vallyathan & Xianglin Shi

  3. The Institute of Neuroscience, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, P.R. China

    Gong Ju

Authors
  1. Chuanshu Huang
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  2. Jingxia Li
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  3. Min Ding
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  4. Max Costa
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  5. Vincent Castranova
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  7. Gong Ju
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Correspondence to Chuanshu Huang.

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Huang, C., Li, J., Ding, M. et al. Transactivation of RARE and GRE in the cellular response to arsenic. Mol Cell Biochem 222, 119–125 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017975610084

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