Heavy-metal toxicity in an insect cell line. Effects of cadmium chloride, mercuric chloride and methylmercuric chloride on cell viability and proliferation in Aedes albopictus cells

We evaluated the toxicity of CdCl2, HgCl2, and MeHgCl on the C6/36 cell line of Aedes albopictus. This cell line proved to be a suitable tool for studying heavy-metal toxicity in insect cells. Since data on heavy-metal toxicity in invertebrate cell cultures are almost nonexistent, our results are discussed in relation to in vivo invertebrate and in vitro vertebrate studies. Viability and proliferation were assessed by dye exclusion and DNA quantification, respectively. Viability tests were carried out with and without 5% fetal calf serum in the medium. The three metal species decreased viability to different extents (MeHgCl > HgCl2 > CdCl2), and fetal calf serum had a protective effect. In serum-deprived cultures, LD50 values were 140.20, 2.51, and 2.08 mu mol/L for CdCl2, HgCl2, and MeHgCl, respectively. For cultures with fetal calf serum, LDS, values were 149.71, 12.01, and 5.47 mu mol/L, respectively. The viability curve for CdCl2 under serum-free conditions suggests the induction of a cell defense system. The three metal species also inhibited cell proliferation (MeHgCl > CdCl2 > HgCl2). The IC50 values were 1.75, 18.36, and 0.96 mu mol/L for CdCl2, HgCl2, and MeHgCl, respectively. In summary, low MeHgCl concentrations caused both cell death and inhibition of cell proliferation; HgCl2 primarily disrupted the plasma membrane, whereas CdCl2 primarily inhibited cell proliferation.