Cellular Effects of Heavy Metals
The term “heavy metals” is used as a group name of toxic metals and metalloids (semimetals) causing contaminations and ecotoxicity. In strict chemical sense the density of heavy metals is higher than 5 g/cm3. From biological point of view as microelements
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Gáspár Bánfalvi Editor
Cellular Effects of Heavy Metals
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Editor Dr. Gáspár Bánfalvi Institute of Biology and Ecology University of Debrecen Egyetem Square 1, 4010 Debrecen Hungary [email protected]
ISBN 978-94-007-0427-5 e-ISBN 978-94-007-0428-2 DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0428-2 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2011921316 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Cover design: deblik, Berlin Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
Cellular lesions are related to macromolecular synthetic processes including the hierarchical flow of genetic information. Heavy metals generate oxidizing radicals through the Fenton and Haber-Weiss reactions leading to metal-induced carcinogenesis mediated primarily by the elevated levels of reactive oxygen species. Heavy metal-induced oxidative stress can lead to different types of cellular damages as a consequence of incomplete reduction of oxygen. Oxidative damage causes changes in DNA structure, the long term effects of which can lead to multiple mutations and malignant transformation. The detection of oxidative damages involves chromatographic, biochemical and immunochemical approaches. Early detection of cytotoxicity at structural and functional level of DNA combined with high sensitivity are the expected benefits of the approaches suggested in this book. The advantages of using cell cultures to measure the cellular toxicity of heavy metals are: controlled cell growth, known concentrations and time of exposure to metal ions. The book summarizes the cellular effects of metals including in alphabetical order: Ag, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Ta, U, W, Zn with respect to their impact on microbial, plant, yeast, insect and mammalian cells. Cellular effects of heavy metals involve: accumulation, mutagenesis, chromosomal changes, gene expression, activation of signal transduction pathways, apoptosis, transporters, protein binding, folding and degradation. These cellular changes affect not only the fate of cells but also our everyday life. The special website provides vivid performance of cellular movements of individual cells, cell divison and how cellular etology is influenced by the presence of heavy metals. Cells have evolved sophisticated defense mechanisms to protect themselves agains heavy metal toxicity. At the genomic level many genes and regulatory pathways have been identified, but their implications on the higher order structure of the genetic material have not been investigated. To better define the impact of heavy metals on chromatin struct
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