UVB radiation induces an increase in intracellular zinc in human epidermal keratinocytes

  • Authors:
    • Christian J. Stork
    • Lisa M. Martorano
    • Yang V. Li
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: October 1, 2010     https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm_00000486
  • Pages: 463-469
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Abstract

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is known to cause oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA damage and apoptotic cell death; however, many details of these malign mechanism have yet to be elucidated. In this study, the exposure of adult human epidermal keratinocytes (HEKa) with UVB (>100 mJ/cm2) resulted in the significant increase of intracellular zinc that was released from its storage and was detected by fluorescent zinc indicators. Toxicity testing revealed that UVB-induced zinc release in HEKa is associated with HEKa cell death. Cells that showed elevated intracellular zinc fluorescence upon UVB exposure were also stained by propidium iodide (PI), a traditional viability indicator whose fluorescent signal is as a result of its intercalating with DNA fragments and is unaffected by zinc concentration, showing significant colocalization [Pearson's correlation coefficients r=0.956 (n=6)]. The cytotoxicity of zinc was also determined by an MTT assay after applying the exogenous zinc (ZnCl2) along with its ionophore pyrithione (20 µM) into HEKa culture medium. A significant reduction in cell viability as a function of both zinc concentration and exposure time was observed. The treatments of 1, 10 and 100 µM ZnCl2 with pyrithione demonstrated 2.3, 60 and 84% cell deaths, respectively (control 0.5%) after 30 min. ZnCl2 (100 µM) was also found to induce complete HEKa death after 1 h. Thus, the present study demonstrates that UVB irradiation-induced increased zinc is detrimental to HEKa viability, and zinc may be a necessary step in UVB-induced cell death signaling pathways.

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October 2010
Volume 26 Issue 4

Print ISSN: 1107-3756
Online ISSN:1791-244X

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Spandidos Publications style
Stork CJ, Martorano LM and Li YV: UVB radiation induces an increase in intracellular zinc in human epidermal keratinocytes . Int J Mol Med 26: 463-469, 2010
APA
Stork, C.J., Martorano, L.M., & Li, Y.V. (2010). UVB radiation induces an increase in intracellular zinc in human epidermal keratinocytes . International Journal of Molecular Medicine, 26, 463-469. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm_00000486
MLA
Stork, C. J., Martorano, L. M., Li, Y. V."UVB radiation induces an increase in intracellular zinc in human epidermal keratinocytes ". International Journal of Molecular Medicine 26.4 (2010): 463-469.
Chicago
Stork, C. J., Martorano, L. M., Li, Y. V."UVB radiation induces an increase in intracellular zinc in human epidermal keratinocytes ". International Journal of Molecular Medicine 26, no. 4 (2010): 463-469. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm_00000486