The phosphorylation of histone H3 at serine 10 (p-H3S10) has been shown to be closely correlated with mitotic chromosome condensation. We previously reported that intracellular silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) release Ag ions that alter actin filament dynamics, leading to the activation of Aurora kinases and the formation of p-H3S10 through a mechanism clearly different from that occurring during mitosis. In the present study, we examined other mechanisms underlying the induction of p-H3S10 formation by AgNPs. We observed that the early formation of p-H3S10 induced by AgNPs occurred via the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, specifically the Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways. The late AgNP-induced p-H3S10 formation occurred via the activation of the entire MAPK cascade. On the other hand, p-H3S10 formation was not due to DNA damage induced by AgNPs, or the activation of the kinases ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) and ATM-Rad3-related (ATR). Several studies have compared the mechanism of AgNP toxicity to a Trojan horse-type molecular pathway. We observed different effects of AgNO₃ (Ag⁺) and AgNPs on cells, and only the JNK inhibitor suppressed the temporary AgNO₃-induced formation of p-H3S10. These results strongly indicate that AgNP-induced p-H3S10 formation does not rely solely on one signaling pathway, but rather may involve two or more pathways.
Keywords: histone; mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK); pathway; phosphorylation; silver nanoparticles.