Circ_0008657 regulates lung DNA damage induced by hexavalent chromium through the miR-203a-3p/ATM axis

Hexavalent chromium [Cr (VI)] is an important environmental pollutant and may cause lung injury when inhaled into the human body. Cr (VI) is genotoxic and can cause DNA damage, although the underlying epigenetic mechanisms remain unclear. To simulate the real-life workplace exposure to Cr (VI), we used a novel exposure dose calculation method. We evaluated the effect of Cr (VI) on DNA damage in human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE and BEAS-2B) by calculating the equivalent real-time exposure dose of Cr (VI) (0 to 10 μM) in an environmental population. Comet experiments and olive tail moment measurements revealed increased DNA damage in cells exposed to Cr (VI). Cr (VI) treatment increased nuclear γ-H2AX foci and γ-H2AX protein expression, and caused DNA damage in the lung tissues of mice. An effective Cr (VI) dose (6 μM) was determined and used for cell treatment. Cr (VI) exposure upregulated circ_0008657, and knockdown of circ_0008657 decreased Cr (VI)-induced DNA damage, whereas circ_0008657 overexpression had the opposite effect. Mechanistically, we found that circ_0008657 binds to microRNA (miR)-203a-3p and subsequently regulates ATM serine/threonine kinase (ATM), a key protein involved in homologous recombination repair downstream of miR-203a-3p, thereby regulating DNA damage induced by Cr (VI). The present findings suggest that circ_0008657 competitively binds to miR-203a-3p to activate the ATM pathway and regulate the DNA damage response after environmental chemical exposure in vivo and in vitro.