Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae devoid of Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase as a cellular model to study acrylamide toxicity

Abstract Acrylamide is known as a cytotoxic and genotoxic component of starch-containing heat-processed food. We demonstrate that yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae may be used as a cellular model to examine the biochemical mechanisms of acrylamide toxicity. We found that acrylamide causes impairment of growth of the yeast deficient in Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (Δ sod1 ) in a concentration-dependent manner. This growth inhibitory effect is not due to cell death but to decreased cell vitality and proliferative capacity. Treatment of the Δ sod1 yeast with acrylamide induced generation of increased reactive oxygen species and depletion of glutathione. The toxicity of acrylamide for yeast cells may be abolished by antioxidants (ascorbate, cysteine, N -acetylcysteine, glutathione and dithiothreitol) or lowering oxygen content in the atmosphere.