LB1034 Chromatin remodeling by warfare arsenicals in porcine skin

Abstract

Accidental or deliberate exposure to highly toxic chemical warfare agents and many industrial chemicals pose significant threat to environment and human health. Skin exposure to arsenical vesicants, developed as chemical weapons in World War I/II, causes painful inflammation and skin wounds. The lack of human relevant animal models has been a key impediment for defining the underlying mechanism/s of these devastating chemicals. The Gottingen minipig skin closely resembles to human skin and we demonstrate that cutaneous exposure to molar equivalent doses of lewisite or structurally related arsenicals [diphenylchlorarsine (DPCA), diphenylcyanoarsine (DPCYA), diethylchlorarsine (DECA)] leads to skin inflammation and wound that progresses in dose- and time-dependent manner.