Manipulation of expression of arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltransferase in cultured cells.

Manipulation of expression of arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltransferase in cultured cells. Curr Protoc Toxicol. 2010 Feb;Chapter 4:Unit 4.35 Authors: Drobna Z, Styblo M, Thomas DJ Abstract Methylation of inorganic arsenic to produce mono-, di-, or trimethylated products is the central process in the cellular metabolism of arsenic. Identification of arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltransferase (As3mt) as the enzyme that could catalyze all the steps in the pathway for arsenic methylation suggests that expression of this enzyme could be a useful target for manipulation. Here, methods are described for heterologous expression of the rat As3mt gene in a human urothelial cell line that normally does not express this enzyme and for silencing of the AS3MT gene by RNA interference in a human hepatoma cell line. These tools can be applied to elucidating the role of methylation in the toxic and carcinogenic effects of arsenicals. PMID: 20949432 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Source: Current Protocols in Toxicology - Category: Toxicology Tags: Curr Protoc Toxicol Source Type: research