Response of human cord blood cells to styrene exposure: evaluation of its effects on apoptosis and gene expression by genomic technology

Styrene is one of the most important monomers produced worldwide, and it finds major use in the production of polystyrene, acrylonitrile-butadiene- styrene resins and unsaturated polystyrene resins. Epidemiological studies on styrene showed that the malignancies observed most frequently in humans after exposure are related to the lymphatic and haemopoietic system. IARC classified styrene a possible carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B). In this study, we evaluated the effect of styrene on gene expression profiles of human cord blood cells, as well as its activity on the apoptosis and bcl-2 related protein expression. Data demonstrated that, after 24 and 48 h of exposure, styrene (800 μM) induced an increase in the necrosis of mononuclear cord blood cells, whereas it did not cause any increase in the apoptotic process. Western blot analysis revealed a modified expression of Bax, BCl-2, c-Jun, c-Fos and Raf-1 proteins in the human cord blood cells after direct exposure to styrene, whereas p53 expression did not change. Furthermore, Macroarray analysis showed that styrene changed cord blood gene expression, inducing up-regulation of monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), and down-regulation of CC chemokine receptor type 1 (CCR-1) and SLP-76 tyrosine-phosphoprotein.