Sodium arsenite has been demonstrated to alter the expression of genes associated with glucose homeostasis in tissues involved in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes; however, the underlying molecular mechanism has not been fully elucidated yet. In this study, we report that the sodium arsenite-induced gene expression of the small heterodimer partner (SHP; NR0B2), an atypical orphan nuclear rec...

BACKGROUND Long-term exposure of arsenite leads to human skin cancer. However, the exact mechanisms of arsenite-induced human skin carcinogenesis remain to be defined. OBJECTIVES In this study, we investigated the potential role of PI-3K/Akt/cyclin D1in the transformation of human keratinocytic cells upon arsenite exposure. METHODS We used the soft agar assay to evaluate the cell transforma...

Heterotrophic arsenite oxidation by Hydrogenophaga sp. str. NT-14 is coupled to the reduction of oxygen and appears to yield energy for growth. Purification and partial characterization of the arsenite oxidase revealed that it (1). contains two heterologous subunits, AroA (86 kDa) and AroB (16 kDa), (2). has a native molecular mass of 306 kDa suggesting an alpha(3)beta(3) configuration, and (3)...

Background: Sodium arsenite and/ or vasectomy may cause variation in sex hormones which affect pathophysiology of reproductive organs. Objective: The aim was to investigate the morphological changes in structure of testis and hormonal imbalance in bilateral Vasectomised rats treated with sodium arsenite. Materials and Methods: Four groups of rats: bilateral vasectomy + sodium arsenite, bilatera...

Arsenite-tolerant bacteria were isolated from an organic farm of Navsari Agricultural University (NAU), Gujarat, India (Latitude: 20°55'39.04″N; Longitude: 72°54'6.34″E). One of the isolates, NAU-1 (aerobic, Gram-positive, non-motile, coccobacilli), was hyper-tolerant to arsenite (As(III), 23 mM) and arsenate (As(V), 180 mM). 16S rRNA gene of NAU-1 was 99% similar to the 16S rRNA genes of Rhodo...

Plasmids in both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus contain an "operon" that confers resistance to arsenate, arsenite, and antimony(III) salts. The systems were always inducible. All three salts, arsenate, arsenite, and antimony(III), were inducers. Mutants and a cloned deoxyribonucleic acid fragment from plasmid pI258 in S. aureus have lost arsenate resistance but retained resistances ...

Arsenite is a known carcinogen and its exposure has been implicated in a variety of noncarcinogenic health concerns. Increased oxidative stress is thought to be the primary cause of arsenite toxicity and the toxic effect is thought to be linear with detrimental effects reported at all concentrations of arsenite. But the paradigm of linear dose response in arsenite toxicity is shifting. In the p...

Arsenite, a unique human carcinogen, induces many types of cytogenetic alterations, such as sister chromatid exchanges, chromosome aberrations, and endoreduplication in a variety of in vivo and in vitro systems. Cytogenetic alterations are frequently associated with cancer development. The purpose of this study was to explore how arsenite induces cytogenetic alterations in human skin fibroblast...

The chemolithoautotroph NT-26 oxidizes arsenite to arsenate by using a periplasmic arsenite oxidase. Purification and preliminary characterization of the enzyme revealed that it (i) contains two heterologous subunits, AroA (98 kDa) and AroB (14 kDa); (ii) has a native molecular mass of 219 kDa, suggesting an alpha2beta2 configuration; and (iii) contains two molybdenum and 9 or 10 iron atoms per...

Exposure to the environmental toxicant arsenic is reported to produce a variety of effects including disruption of signal transduction pathways, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. This suggests that arsenite may not have specific targets but rather extremely broad effects. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that arsenite alters signaling involved in focal adhesion structure a...