Monomethylarsonous acid, but not inorganic arsenic, is a mitochondria-specific toxicant in vascular smooth muscle cells.

ABSTRACT: Arsenic exposure has been implicated as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, and cancer, yet the role mitochondrial dysfunction plays in the cellular mechanisms of pathology is largely unknown. To investigate arsenic-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), we exposed rat aortic smooth muscle cells (A7r5) to inorganic arsenic (iAs(III)) and its metabolite monomethylarsonous acid (MMA(III)) and compared their effects on mitochondrial function and oxidative stress. Our results indicate that MMA(III) is significantly more toxic to mitochondria than iAs(III). Exposure of VSMCs to MMA(III), but not iAs(III), significantly decreased basal and maximal oxygen consumption rates and concomitantly increased compensatory extracellular acidif

SUBMITTER: Pace C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4938733 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature