WHO has presented a health-based guideline value for boron in drinking water. That fact indicates that a high level of boron is toxic for humans. However, there is no direct evidence of boron-mediated malignant transformation. In this study, human lung epithelial nontumorigenic BEAS-2B cells and tumorigenic A549 cells were used to investigate the tumorigenic toxicity of boron in vitro. Anchorage-independent growth, a hallmark of malignant transformation, was increased by boron at concentrations of 50, 250 and 500 μM in BEAS-2B cells, though the same concentrations of boron had no influence on anchorage-independent growth of A549 cells. Moreover, boron at concentrations of 250 and 500 μM activated the c-SRC/PI3K/AKT pathway of BEAS-2B cells. The results of our in vitro study suggest that exposure to high levels of boron promotes transforming activity of nontumorigenic cells.

世卫组织提出了基于健康的饮用水中硼的准则值。这一事实表明，高含量的硼对人类有毒。但是，没有直接证据表明硼介导的恶性转化。在这项研究中，人肺上皮非致瘤性BEAS-2B细胞和致瘤性A549细胞用于研究硼在体外的致癌毒性。硼在BEAS-2B细胞中浓度分别为50、250和500μM时，不依赖于锚定的生长是恶性转化的标志，尽管相同浓度的硼对A549细胞的不依赖于锚定的生长没有影响。此外，浓度为250和500μM的硼激活了BEAS-2B细胞的c-SRC / PI3K / AKT途径。我们体外的结果 研究表明，暴露于高水平的硼会促进非致瘤细胞的转化活性。