Thallium(I) treatment induces nucleolar stress to stop protein synthesis and cell growth

Thallium is considered as an emergent contaminant owing to its potential use in the superconductor alloys. The monovalent thallium, Tl(I), is highly toxic to the animals as it can affect numerous metabolic processes. Here we observed that Tl(I) decreased protein synthesis and phosphorylated eukaryotic initiation factor 2α. Although Tl(I) has been shown to interact with the sulfhydryl groups of proteins and cause the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, it did not activate endoplasmic reticulum stress. Notably, the level of 60S ribosomal subunit showed significant under-accumulation after the Tl(I) treatment. Given that Tl(I) shares similarities with potassium in terms of the ionic charge and atomic radius, we proposed that Tl(I) occupies certain K(+)-binding sites and inactivates the ribosomal function. However, we observed neither activation of ribophagy nor acceleration of the proteasomal degradation of 60S subunits. On the contrary, the ribosome synthesis pathway was severely blocked, i.e., the impairment of rRNA processing, deformed nucleoli, and accumulation of 60S subunits in the nucleus were observed. Although p53 remained inactivated, the decreased c-Myc and increased p21 levels indicated the activation of nucleolar stress. Therefore, we proposed that Tl(I) interfered the ribosome synthesis, thus resulting in cell growth inhibition and lethality.