Oxidative DNA and protein damage in metal-induced toxicity and carcinogenesis

This review discusses the relevance of oxidative damage to metal-induced toxicity and carcinogenesis. Presented are important facts and mechanistic concepts on the capacity of selected transition metals, mainly Ni, but also Cu, Co, Cr, and briefly several others, to generate active oxygen species and other reactive intermediates under physiological conditions. These metals are known to be toxic and/or carcinogenic contaminants of the occupational and general environments. Their redox activity may underlay the mechanism of mediation of oxidative damage to cell constituents. The presentation is focused on selected issues relative to genetic and epigenetic toxicity and illustrated with examples of metal-mediated oxidative damage to the principal components of chromatin, i.e., DNA, histones, and protamines.