Toxicologic Pathology

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kan, R. K.
Right arrow Articles by Petrali, J. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kan, R. K.
Right arrow Articles by Petrali, J. P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Toxicologic Pathology, Vol. 31, No. 2, 185-190 (2003)
DOI: 10.1080/01926230390183661

Sulfur Mustard-Induced Apoptosis in Hairless Guinea Pig Skin

Robert K. Kan

Comparative Pathology Branch, Comparative Medicine Division, Robert.Kan{at}apg.amedd.army.mil

Christina M. Pleva

Comparative Pathology Branch, Comparative Medicine Division

Tracey A. Hamilton

Comparative Pathology Branch, Comparative Medicine Division

Dana R. Anderson

Pharmacology, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland 21010-5400

John P. Petrali

Comparative Pathology Branch, Comparative Medicine Division

The present study was aimed to examine whether apoptosis is involved in the pathogenesis of sulfur mustard (SM)-induced basal cell death. Skin sites of the hairless guinea pig exposed to SM vapor for 8 minutes were harvested at 3, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours postexposure. Immunohistochemical detection of basal cell apoptosis was performed using the ApopTag in situ apoptosis labeling kit. Only occasional apoptotic basal cells (BC) were observed in nonexposed and perilesional control sites. At lesional sites, apoptosis of BC was not detected at 3 hours postexposure. However, at 6 hours and 12 hours postexposure, 18% and 59% of BC were apoptotic, respectively. At 24 and 48 hours postexposure, individual apoptotic basal cells were not clearly recognizable due to necrosis. At the ultrastructural level, degenerating BC exhibited typical apoptotic morphology including nuclear condensation and chromatin margination. The results suggest that apoptotic cell death is a cytotoxic mechanism with the number of BC undergoing apoptosis significantly increasing from 6 to 12 hours postexposure. In addition, because necrosis is preferential at 24 hours postexposure, we believe that SM-induced cell death involves early apoptosis and late necrosis, which temporally overlap to produce a single cell death pathway along an apoptotic-necrotic continuum.

Key Words: Sulfur mustard • apoptosis • hairless guinea pigs • skin • basal cells • microvesicles.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?