Fundamental Toxicological Sciences

Paper Details

Fundamental Toxicological Sciences
Vol. 5 No. 3 June 01, 2018 p.99-103
Original Article
Biphenyl increases the intracellular Ca2+ concentration in HL-60 cells
  • Norio Kamemura (Department of Food-Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tokushima Bunri University / kamemura.norio@tks.bunri-u.ac.jp)
Tomoko Inubushi 1) , Mayumi Sugimoto 2) , Haruka Kunimi 3) , Haruka Hino 3) , Atsushi Tabata 4) , Naohiro Imura 4) , Shin Abe 4) , Norio Kamemura 1)
1) Department of Food-Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tokushima Bunri University , 2) Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School , 3) Department of Biological Science and Technology, Tokushima University Graduate School , 4) Division of Bioscience and Bioindustry, Graduate School of Technology, Industrial and Social Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School
Keywords: Biphenyl, Intracellular Ca2+, Cytotoxicity
Abstracts

Biphenyl is a universal intermediate agent used as a protectant in various industrial activities. Biphenyl is currently used in postharvest applications as a fungicide in foreign countries to maintain the safety and quality of agricultural products. However, the risk of using biphenyl is in dispute in Japan. The toxicity of biphenyl has been studied in animals, and reportedly affects the liver and kidney especially. However, the toxic effect of biphenyl on cells is currently not well-understood, and the mechanism is unclear. We examined the toxicity of biphenyl on HL60 cells, a human promyelocytic leukemia cell line, by performing flow cytometry analyses with fluorescent probes. Biphenyl at 100 μM or greater significantly increased lethality and the intensity of side scatter on HL60 cells. Moreover, biphenyl at 30 μM or greater increased intracellular Ca2+ in a concentration-dependent manner. This increase resulted from free extracellular Ca2+ entering into the cells. These results indicate that an increase in intracellular Ca2+ may be one of several causes of the cytotoxicity induced by biphenyl. This study will contribute to the safety evaluation of biphenyl in the future.