Dichloroacetonitrile induces cytotoxicity through oxidative stress-mediated and p53-dependent apoptosis pathway in LO2 cells

Abstract

Dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN), one of the disinfection byproducts of water chlorination, induces cell proliferation and apoptosis; however, the detailed mechanism remains unclear. Oxidative stress participates in various biological processes, including DNA damage and cytotoxicity. To explore whether oxidative stress mediated DCAN-induced cell proliferation and apoptosis, we assessed the effect of redox imbalance and apoptosis in LO2 cells. We observed increase of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde and increased apoptosis by 13.6% in 500 μM DCAN compared with the control group. We also observed a decrease of antioxidant ability damage including glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and total antioxidant capacity depletion. Furthermore, DCAN might activate oxidative stress-mediated apoptosis pathway via up-regulation of p53 expression and caspase-3 activity. Therefore, we conclude that DCAN may activate apoptotic signals via p53 up-regulation and oxidative stress-mediated apoptosis in LO2 cells.

Keywords:

• Dichloroacetonitrile
• oxidative stress
• cell proliferation
• apoptosis
• p53

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all participants of the study. This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81273116), the Key Innovation Projects of Guangdong Province Colleges and Universities (2015KTSCX052), the Guangdong Provincial Medical Science and Technology Program (A2016037), the Guangdong Provincial Medical Science and Technology Program (A2017100), the Science and Technology Program of Zhanjiang Bureau of Science and Technology, China (2015B01006), the Science Foundation of Guangdong Medical University (B2012010), the Science Foundation of Guangdong Medical University (M2014016), the Guangdong Provincial College Students’ Innovative Entrepreneurial Training Projects (201510571047), and the College Students’ Innovative Entrepreneurial Training Projects of Guangdong Medical University (XJ105711425). This study was also supported by Dongguan Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81273116), the Key Innovation Projects of Guangdong Province Colleges and Universities (2015KTSCX052), the Guangdong Provincial Medical Science and Technology Program (A2016037), the Guangdong Provincial Medical Science and Technology Program (A2017100), the Science and Technology Program of Zhanjiang Bureau of Science and Technology, China (2015B01006), the Science Foundation of Guangdong Medical University (B2012010), the Science Foundation of Guangdong Medical University (M2014016), the Guangdong Provincial College Students’ Innovative Entrepreneurial Training Projects (201510571047), and the College Students’ Innovative Entrepreneurial Training Projects of Guangdong Medical University (XJ105711425). This study was also supported by Dongguan Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine.