Bisphenol A at concentrations found in human serum induces aneugenic effects in endothelial cells

Abstract

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disrupting chemical to which humans are exposed. Continuous environmental exposure to BPA leads to its detection in the majority of individuals from developed countries, with serum concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 10ng/ml in the general population and much higher when associated with occupational exposure. In this work, human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVEC) and human colon adenocarcinona (HT29) cell lines were used to represent endothelial and digestive-tract tissues, which are in direct contact to BPA in vivo. Our results demonstrate that BPA has cell-type differential effects. Notably, BPA concentrations commonly found in humans induce micronucleus formation and interfere with cell-division processes in endothelial cells, resulting in mitotic abnormalities. We also found that BPA induces up-regulation of two genes encoding proteins associated with chromosome segregation, namely CDCA8 (borealin/cell division cycle A8) and SGOL2 (shugoshin-like2). Taken together, the aneugenic effects observed in endothelial cells (HUVECs) substantiate increasing concerns about BPA exposure at levels currently detected in humans.