Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) As a Potential Source of Interference in Research Related to Sulfur Metabolism-A Preliminary Study

Overview

Journal Antioxidants (Basel)

Date 2024 May 25

PMID 38790687

Authors

Marta Kaczor-Kaminska

Kinga Kaszuba

Anna Bilska-Wilkosz

Malgorzata Iciek

Maria Wrobel

Kamil Kaminski

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), an organosulfur compound, is widely used as the gold standard solvent in biological research. It is used in cell culture experiments and as a component of formulations in in vivo studies. Unfortunately, parameters related to sulfur metabolism are often not taken into account when using DMSO. Therefore, in this work we aim to show that the addition of DMSO to the culture medium (even in amounts commonly considered acceptable) alters some parameters of sulfur metabolism. For this study, we used three cell lines: a commercially available Caco-2 line (HTB-37, ATCC) and two lines created as part of our early studies (likewise previously described in the literature) to investigate the anomalies of sulfur metabolism in mucopolysaccharidosis. As the negative effects of DMSO on the cell membrane are well known, additional experiments with the partial loading of DMSO into polymerosomes (poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether-block-poly(lactide-co-glycolide), PEG-PLGA) were performed to eliminate these potentially disruptive effects. The results show that DMSO is a source of interference in studies related to sulfur metabolism and that there are not just simple effects that can be corrected in the final result by subtracting control values, since complex synergisms are also observed.

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