Dynamic changes in intracellular location of metallothionein in rat keratinocytes after ultraviolet-B irradiation

Zinc-metallothionein genoprotective effect is independent of the glutathione depletion in HaCaT keratinocytes after solar light irradiation

UV radiations are the major environmental factors that induce DNA damage of skin cells either by direct absorption (UVB), or after inducing an oxidative stress (UVA and UVB). Cells maintain a reducing intracellular environment to avoid genomic damage. MTs have been expected not only to control metal homeostasis but also counteract the glutathione (GSH) depletion induced by oxidative stress because of their high thiol content. Induction and redistribution of MTs in cultured human keratinocytes (HaCaT) in response to SSL, is an important cellular defense mechanism against DNA damage. Reduced glutathione (GSH) is another way of cellular protection against UV-induced oxidative stress. This study which extend our previous finding focused on the relation between intracellular GSH and Zn genoprotective effects after solar irradiation. HaCaT cells, depleted or not in GSH by a chemical treatment were used to compare MTs induction by Northern blot, expression by Western blot and localization using immunocytochemistry. Zn genoprotection experiments after SSL irradiation was carried out by the comet assay. We demonstrated that in absence of GSH, Zn-MTs could protect DNA after SSL irradiation and that GSH depletion has no effect on MTs induction and localization. Nuclear Zn-MTs could be responsible for this observed genoprotection in GSH depleted cells. So the GSH/Zn and the MT/Zn systems could be two independent but interacting mechanisms of cellular protection against SSL injury.

Regulation of zinc homeostasis by inducible NO synthase-derived NO: nuclear metallothionein translocation and intranuclear Zn2+ release

Zn2+ is critical for the functional and structural integrity of cells and contributes to a number of important processes including gene expression. It has been shown that NO exogenously applied via NO donors resulting in nitrosative stress leads to cytoplasmic Zn2+ release from the zinc storing protein metallothionein (MT) and probably other proteins that complex Zn2+ via cysteine thiols. We show here that, in cytokine-activated murine aortic endothelial cells, NO derived from the inducible NO synthase (iNOS) induces a transient nuclear release of Zn2+. This nuclear Zn2+ release depends on the presence of MT as shown by the lack of this effect in activated endothelial cells from MT-deficient mice and temporally correlates with nuclear MT translocation. Data also show that NO is an essential but not sufficient signal for MT-mediated Zn2+ trafficking from the cytoplasm into the nucleus. In addition, we found that, endogenously via iNOS, synthesized NO increases the constitutive mRNA expression of both MT-1 and MT-2 genes and that nitrosative stress exogenously applied via an NO donor increases constitutive MT mRNA expression via intracellular Zn2+ release. In conclusion, we here provide evidence for a signaling mechanism based on iNOS-derived NO through the regulation of intracellular Zn2+ trafficking and homeostasis.

Effects of cadmium and zinc on solar-simulated light-irradiated cells: potential role of zinc-metallothionein in zinc-induced genoprotection

Zinc is an essential oligoelement for cell growth and cell survival and has been demonstrated to protect cells from oxidative stress induced by UVA or from genotoxic stress due to UVB. In a recent work we demonstrated that the antioxidant role of zinc could be related to its ability to induce metallothioneins (MTs). In this study we identified the mechanism of zinc protection against solar-simulated light (SSL) injury. Cultured human keratinocytes (HaCaT) were used to examine MTs expression and localization in response to solar-simulated radiation. We found translocation to the nucleus, with overexpression of MTs in irradiated cells, a novel observation. The genoprotective effect of zinc was dependent on time and protein synthesis. DNA damage was significantly decreased after 48 h of ZnCl(2) (100 microM) treatment and is inhibited by actinomycin D. ZnCl(2) treatment (100 microM) led to an intense induction, redistribution, and accumulation of MT in the nucleus of irradiated cells. MT expression correlated with the time period of ZnCl(2) treatment. CdCl(2), a potent MT inducer, did not show any genoprotection, although the MTs were expressed in the nucleus. Overall our findings demonstrate that MTs could be a good candidate for explaining the genoprotection mediated by zinc on irradiated cells.

Zinc protects against ultraviolet A1-induced DNA damage and apoptosis in cultured human fibroblasts

Ultraviolet A1 (UVA1) radiation generates reactive oxygen species and the oxidative stress is known as a mediator of DNA damage and of apoptosis. We exposed cultured human cutaneous fibroblasts to UVA1 radiation (wavelengths in the 340-450-nm range with emission peak at 365 nm) and, using the alkaline unwinding method, we showed an immediate significant increase of DNA strand breaks in exposed cells. Apoptosis was determined by detecting cytoplasmic nucleosomes (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method) at different time points in fibroblasts exposed to different irradiation doses. In our conditions, UVA1 radiation induced an early (8 h) and a delayed (18 h) apoptosis. Delayed apoptosis increased in a UVA dose-dependent manner. Zinc is an important metal for DNA protection and has been shown to have inhibitory effects on apoptosis. The addition of zinc (6.5 mg/L) as zinc chloride to the culture medium significantly decreased immediate DNA strand breaks in human skin fibroblasts. Moreover, zinc chloride significantly decreased UVA1-induced early and delayed apoptosis. Thus, these data show for the first time in normal cutaneous cultured cells that UVA1 radiation induces apoptosis. This apoptosis is biphasic and appears higher 18 h after the stress. Zinc supplementation can prevent both immediate DNA strand breakage and early and delayed apoptosis, suggesting that this metal could be of interest for skin cell protection against UVA1 irradiation.

Transient peaks in zinc and metallothionein levels during differentiation of 3T3L1 cells

A novel role for zinc mediated by metallothionein (MT) is found in the process of differentiation of 3T3L1 mouse fibroblasts to adipocytes. Twenty-four hours after the stimulation of differentiation by hormones, the cells enter into a phase of synchronous proliferation. In this phase the cellular contents of zinc and metallothionein rise rapidly to fivefold and threefold levels, respectively. Simultaneously MT is translocated from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. The rise of intracellular zinc is essential for the transition from G0/G1- to S-phase of the cell cycle. Deprivation of zinc with N,N,N', N'-tetrakis[2-pyridyl]ethylenediamine, a membrane-permeable zinc chelator, inhibited hormonal induced proliferation. After the short phase of proliferation a slower stage of actual differentiation to adipocytes begins. The elevated levels of MT and zinc decline quickly to start levels, and a rapid redistribution of MT to the cytoplasm occurs. We propose that the nuclear translocation of MT mediates the transfer of zinc to nuclear factors in the mitogenic process. The redistribution of MT to the cytoplasm and the decrease of the zinc content are postulated to be required for the start of the actual differentiation.

Metallothionein in radiation exposure: its induction and protective role

Since its discovery about 40 years ago, there has been a wide interdisciplinary research interest in metallothionein (MT) on its physiological and toxicological aspects. Functionally, MT is involved not only in metal detoxification and homeostasis, but also in scavenging free radicals during oxidative damage. Among over 4500 publications which can be retrieved by Medline search, only about 50 reports have been published on the relationship of MT with ionizing and UV radiation. In this review, we have evaluated critically the published data on the induced synthesis of MT by radiation, and the potential functions of MT in radiation induced cell damage. MT mRNA expression or MT synthesis was found to be induced by exposure of cells in vitro or tissues in vivo to ionizing or UV radiation. In most of the studies in animals and tissue cultures, high doses of ionizing radiation were used to induce MT, and, therefore, it is difficult to extrapolate these results to low level of repeated exposures to radiation in humans. Induced synthesis of MT is considered as one of the mechanisms involved in the adaptive response to low dose radiation exposure. The presence of MT in normal cells may provide protective effects from radiation-induced genotoxicity and cytotoxicity. However, in tumor cells, the presence of MT can result in drug and radiation resistance as well. These effects are modulated by other cellular factors, besides MT, such as antioxidants, and by the cell cycle stages in cell proliferation and differentiation.