p53-dependent gene profiling for reactive oxygen species after benzene inhalation: special reference to genes associated with cell cycle regulation.

Benzene toxicity has long been thought to be due to its metabolites including reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the major toxicological effect of benzene in wild-type mice carrying normal alleles of the p53 gene appears to be the significant perturbation of cell cycle regulation, possibly via an indirect signaling pathway. Other prominent genotoxic cellular damage can occur in the absence of cell cycle arrest in p53 gene deficiency. The suppression of cell cycle is clearly detected using a tool for stem-cell-specific cell cycle observation by the BU-UV method. Cells (including hemopoietic progenitor cells) in S-phase are labeled in vivo with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and then exposed to near-ultraviolet (UV) light to kill cells that incorporated BrdU. The target fraction, the S-phase, is then evaluated on the basis of decreased numbers of hemopoietic colonies formed in assays such as for granulomacrophage colony-forming units (CFU-GM). Benzene toxicity was found to be more prominent in the primitive stem-cell compartment, as first suggested more than 20 years ago. Interestingly, when one examines the stem-cell-specific steady-state gene expression profiling, several key genes associated with benzene exposure are specifically identified, including CYP2E1. Benzene toxicity was found to be mediated by aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) at an expression level; thus, the effect of benzene can be detected in nature at lower levels in the stem-cell compartment than expected. Alterations in gene expression profiles compared with those in steady-state gene expression profiles in the stem-cell compartment may elucidate the mechanism underlying benzene toxicity. Functional gene expressions after benzene exposure are not always detected, because their phenotypic expressions are often masked by the balance of expression of genes participating in various pathways of homeostasis, for example, p53. Thus, the actual expressions of the above-mentioned cell cycle-related genes may not be clearly detected. However, when one examines the genes after benzene exposure without p53 gene participation (i.e., p53 was knocked out), various cell cycle-related genes expressed during and after benzene exposure are identified, such as cyclin B1, cyclin D3 and growth hormone in the bone marrow. Since age-related impairments of p53 gene function in somatic cells are known, the possible alteration of those genes would be based not only on a theoretical model, but possible risks posed on the elderly should also be taken into consideration.