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Brian Vastag

JAMA. 2001;286:2934.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Long known as a poison and a carcinogen, arsenic also kills cancer cells, particularly in leukemia. Researchers now have evidence that arsenic's positive and negative effects stem from the same action, indirect inhibition of telomerase.

Telomerase keeps cells alive by repairing frayed ends of chromosomes. Without the enzyme, chromosomes fuse end-to-end, leading to genetic instability. In healthy cells, such instability can cause cancer. Conversely, in cancer cells, it can lead to cell death.

Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions researcher Chi Dang, MD, said that he and his colleagues came across the finding while investigating how cancer cells react to arsenic. Wen-Chien Chou, a genetics graduate student, noticed abnormally large cells with shortened life spans. After further work, Dang said the result was clear. "Cells exposed to arsenic exhibit a dramatic inhibition of telomerase," he said.

The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, appears in the Journal of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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