Abstract
Cadmium is a potent and effective carcinogen in rodents and has recently been accepted by IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) as a category 1 carcinogen. Cadmium-induced up-regulation of intracellular signaling pathways leading to increased mitogenesis is thought to be a major mechanism for the carcinogenic activity following chronic cadmium exposure. In the present study, we found that exposure of cells to cadmium induced significant activation of AP-1 and all three members of the MAP kinase family in mouse epidermal JB6 cells. The induction of AP-1 activity by cadmium appears to involve activation of Erks, since the induction of AP-1 activity by cadmium was blocked by pretreatment of cells with PD98058. Interestingly, the induction of AP-1 by cadmium was greatly enhanced by the chemical tumor promoter, TPA and the growth factor EGF, but not by ultraviolet C radiation. In vivo studies demonstrated that cadmium could also induce transactivation of AP-1 in AP-1-luciferase report transgenic mice. Considering the role of AP-1 activation in tumor promotion, the results presented in this study provide a possible molecular mechanism for cadmium-induced carcinogenesis.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 141-147 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Molecular and cellular biochemistry |
Volume | 222 |
Issue number | 1-2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 10 2001 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- AP-1
- Cadmium
- Transgenic and MAP kinase