Evaluating the Effects of Tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone,an Active Metabolite of Pentachlorophenol,on the Growth of Human Breast Cancer Cells

Tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone (tcbq),an active metabolite of pentachlorophenol (pcp),is genotoxic and potentially carcinogenic. as an electrophilic and oxidative molecule,tcbq can conjugate with deoxyguanosine in dna molecules and/or impose oxidative stress in cells. in the current study,we investigated the effects of tcbq on intracellular ros production,apoptosis,and cytotoxicity against three different subtypes of human breast cancer cells. luminal a subtype mcf7 (er+,pr+,her2-) cells maintained the highest intracellular ros level and were subjected to tcbq-induced ros reduction,apoptosis,and cytotoxicity. her2 subtype sk-br-3 (er-,pr-,her2+) cells possessed the lowest intracellular ros level. tcbq promoted ros production,inhibited apoptosis,and elevated cytotoxicity (due to necrosis) against sk-br-3 cells. triple-negative/basal-like subtype mda-mb-231 cells were less sensitive towards tcbq treatment. therefore,the effect of prolonged exposure to pcp and its active metabolites on cancer growth is highly cancer-cell-type specific. copyright © 2016 binbing ling et al.