LincRNAs and base modifications of p53 induced by arsenic methylation in workers

Arsenic (As) metabolites could induce methylation changes of DNA and base modifications of p53, which play role in the toxicity of As. LincRNAs should play a key regulatory role in the p53 transcriptional response. There were 43 workers producing As trioxide, 36 workers who stopped exposure to As trioxide about 85 days ago, and 24 individuals as control group. Three As species in urine were measured, and primary and secondary methylation indexes, iAs%, MMA% and DMA% were calculated. RT-PCR was performed to detect the expression of 7 LincRNAs and the base modifications of exon 5, 6, 7, and 8 of p53. The concentrations of urinary As were high in workers. Compared to control group, significant changes for 5 LincRNAs in workers producing As trioxide were found (P < 0.05), and there were significant base modifications of p53 in workers came from the two plants (P < 0.05). There exist various correlations between different exon base modifications of p53 and expressions of LincRNAs (P < 0.05). The closely positive correlations between MMA/DMA and MEG3/TUG1/HOTAIR/MALAT1 were found, but negative correlation between DMA/MALAT1 and the base modifications of exon 7 and 8 of p53 were found also (P < 0.05). LincRNAs and base modifications of p53 could be induced by As, MALAT1 and the base modifications of exon 7 and 8 of p53 could play unique roles in epigenic changes. These findings suggest potentially widespread roles of p53 and relative RNAs in arsenic workers, which may be caused by As metabolism.