Open AccessScanning Ion Conductance Microscopy Study Reveals the Disruption of the Integrity of the Human Cell Membrane Structure by Oxidative DNA Damage
Author(s) -
Alberto Seseña Rubfiaro,
Pawlos S. Tsegay,
Yanhao Lai,
Emmanuel Cabello,
Mohammad Shaver,
Joshua D. Hutcheson,
Yuan Liu,
Jin He
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acs applied bio materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.764
H-Index - 17
ISSN - 2576-6422
DOI - 10.1021/acsabm.0c01461
Subject(s) - microbiology and biotechnology , dna damage , cytoskeleton , oxidative stress , actin cytoskeleton , cell membrane , biology , dna repair , oxidative phosphorylation , cell , chemistry , dna , biochemistry
Oxidative stress can damage organs, tissues, and cells through reactive oxygen species (ROS) by oxidizing DNA, proteins, and lipids, thereby resulting in diseases. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be elucidated. In this study, employing scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM), we explored the early responses of human embryonic kidney (HEK293H) cells to oxidative DNA damage induced by potassium chromate (K 2 CrO 4 ). We found that the short term (1-2 h) exposure to a low concentration (10 μ M) of K 2 CrO 4 damaged the lipid membrane of HEK293H cells, resulting in structural defects and depolarization of the cell membrane and reducing cellular secretion activity shortly after the treatment. We further demonstrated that the K 2 CrO 4 treatment decreased the expression of the cytoskeleton protein, β -actin, by inducing oxidative DNA damage in the exon 4 of the β -actin gene. These results suggest that K 2 CrO 4 caused oxidative DNA damage in cytoskeleton genes such as β -actin and reduced their expression, thereby disrupting the organization of the cytoskeleton beneath the cell membrane and inducing cell membrane damages. Our study provides direct evidence that oxidative DNA damage disrupted human cell membrane integrity by deregulating cytoskeleton gene expression.