Nickel(II) acetate-treated Chinese hamster ovary cells differentially express vimentin, hSNF2H homologue, and h ferritin

In probing the possible non-genotoxic molecular mechanism(s) of nickel(II)- induced carcinogenesis, we performed a non-radioactive mRNA differential di splay analysis for nickel(II) acetate-treated Chinese hamster ovary cells ( CHO-K1-BH4), Three out of thirty differentially expressed cDNAs had sequenc es highly similar to known genes. Down-regulation of vimentin and a hSNF2H homologue and up-regulation of ferritin heavy chain were confirmed by North ern blot analysis, The expression of these mRNAs was time- and nickel(II) c oncentration-dependent. For vimentin, the decrease in mRNA level was concur rent with a decrease in the protein level. For ferritin, the increase in mR NA had no effect on the protein level. Dysregulation of these gene products signifies their involvement in the epigenetic effects of carcinogenic nick el(II) compounds.