MORPHOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION OF SYRIAN-HAMSTER EMBRYO CELLS IN PRIMARY CULTURE BY MALACHITE GREEN CORRELATES WELL WITH THE EVIDENCE FOR FORMATION OF REACTIVE FREE-RADICALS
A. Panandiker et al., MORPHOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION OF SYRIAN-HAMSTER EMBRYO CELLS IN PRIMARY CULTURE BY MALACHITE GREEN CORRELATES WELL WITH THE EVIDENCE FOR FORMATION OF REACTIVE FREE-RADICALS, Cancer letters, 74(1-2), 1993, pp. 31-36
Malachite green (MG) (green crystals with metallic luster and very sol
uble in water) is highly cytotoxic to mammalian cells and also acts as
a liver tumor promoter. In view of its industrial importance and poss
ible exposure to individuals, MG poses a potential environmental healt
h hazard. We have studied the effect of MG on the formation of morphol
ogically transformed colonies using Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cell t
ransformation assay. MG induced a dose-related increase in the formati
on of transformed foci, the optimum concentration being 0.05 mu g/ml.
Electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis using 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline
N-oxide (DMPO) as a spin-trapping agent showed the formation of reacti
ve free radicals during the in vitro metabolism of MG. The present stu
dy suggests a close relationship between the morphological transformat
ion of SHE cells by MG and the possible involvement of reactive free r
adical formation.