Studying cytotoxicity of low concentration arsenic on PC 12 cell line

Abstract

It is important to study toxicological effects of arsenic (As) on growth and function of mammal cell line because As is a well-known toxic and carcinogenic agent throughout the world. Herein, PC 12 cell line (rat pheochromo-cytoma cell line) has been selected as a mode cell line for evaluating toxicological effects of sodium arsenite (NaAsO₂, As(III)) on nerve cells. The value (47 μM) of 24 h median lethal concentration (LC50) of NaAsO₂ for PC 12 cells has been obtained by MTT assay. The cytotoxicity of NaAsO₂ has been systematically studied by exposure of PC 12 cells to relatively low concentration (5 and 20 μM) of NaAsO₂. We found that NaAsO₂ is able to significantly decrease cell proliferation, generate strong genotoxicity and increase ROS (reactive oxygen species) level of PC 12 cells. The experimental results demonstrate that low concentration of (e.g., 5 μM, about 10% of its LC50) NaAsO₂ can generate high cytotoxicity towards PC 12 cell line.