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Formaldehyde (FA) is a very reactive compound that forms DNA adducts and DNA-protein crosslinks, which are known to contribute to FA-induced mutations and carcinogenesis. Post-translational modifications to histones have recently attracted attention due to their link with cancer. In the present study, we examined histone modifications following a treatment with FA. FA significantly phosphorylated histone H3 at serine 10 (H3S10), and at serine 28 (H3S28), the time-course of which was similar to the phosphorylation of H2AX at serine 139 (γ-H2AX), a marker of DNA double strand breaks. The temporal deacetylation of H3 was observed due to the reaction of FA with the lysine residues of histones. The phosphorylation mechanism was then analyzed by focusing on H3S10. The nuclear distribution of the phosphorylation of H3S10 and γ-H2AX did not overlap, and the phosphorylation of H3S10 could not be suppressed with an inhibitor of ATM/ATR, suggesting that the phosphorylation of H3S10 was independent of the DNA damage response. ERK and JNK in the MAPK pathways were phosphorylated by the treatment with FA, in which the JNK pathway was the main target for phosphorylation. The phosphorylation of H3S10 increased at the promoter regions of c-fos and c-jun, indicating a relationship between FA-induced tumor promotion activity and phosphorylation of H3S10. These results suggested that FA both initiates and promotes cancer, as judged by an analysis of histone modifications., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Post-translational modifications in histones have been associated with cancer. Although cigarette sidestream smoke (CSS) as well as mainstream smoke are carcinogens, the relationship between carcinogenicity and histone modifications has not yet been clarified. Here, we demonstrated that CSS induced phosphorylation of histones, involving a carcinogenic process. Treatment with CSS markedly induced the phosphorylation of histone H3 at serine 10 and 28 residues (H3S10 and H3S28), which was independent from the cell cycle, in the human pulmonary epithelial cell model, A549 and normal human lung fibroblasts, MRC-5 and WI-38. Using specific inhibitors and small interfering RNA, the phosphorylation of H3S10 was found to be mediated by c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathways. These pathways were different from that of the CSS-induced phosphorylation of histone H2AX (γ-H2AX) mediated by Ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) and ATM-Rad3-related (ATR) protein kinases. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay revealed that the phosphorylation of H3S10 was increased in the promoter sites of the proto-oncogenes, c-fos and c-jun, which indicated that CSS plays a role in tumor promotion. Because the phosphorylation of H3S10 was decreased in the aldehyde-removed CSS and was significantly induced by treatment with formaldehyde, aldehydes are suspected to partially contribute to this phosphorylation. These findings suggested that any chemicals in CSS, including aldehydes, phosphorylate H3S10 via JNK and PI3K/Akt pathways, which is different from the DNA damage response, resulting in tumor promotion., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)