Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Salnikow, Konstantin
• Kasprzak, Kazimierz S
• Sigel, Roland K. O
• Sigel, Helmut
• Sigel, Astrid

Titel

Nickel‐Dependent Gene Expression

Ist Teil von

• Nickel and Its Surprising Impact in Nature, 2007, p.581-618

Ort / Verlag

Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2007

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Wiley-Blackwell Online Books - All Titles (includes Withdrawn titles)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The exposure of human populations to nickel continues and is even increasing in some parts of the world. The adverse health effects resulting from inhalation of nickel‐containing particles and aerosols, including bronchitis, pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, pulmomary edema, and increased risks of cancers of the respiratory tract have been known for a long time. Another threat to human health, especially for highly nickel‐sensitive subjects, is allergic contact dermatitis. The concerns regarding skin allergies were raised during recent debates on the composition of Euro coins, made of nickel alloys, which may release nickel. The evaluation of the degree of hazardous effects of nickel requires understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying these effects. It is clear that they are mediated by active change in the expression of genes controlling responses to stress, inflammation, cell proliferation, or cell death. Recent introduction of DNA microarray techniques allows for simultaneous screening of changes in the expression of a multitude of genes in one experiment. This chapter describes gene expression analyses that have been done for nickel‐exposed human and animal cells cultured in vitro and for exposed tissues of experimental animals. These studies provide new opportunities for identification of biomarkers of nickel exposure. Such biomarkers have tremendous potential for monitoring the levels of exposure of workers in nickel‐related industries. They are also instrumental in the development of new molecular diagnostic and treatment strategies.