β-Naphthoflavone, an exogenous ligand of aryl hydrocarbon receptor, disrupts zinc homeostasis in human hepatoma HepG2 cells.

β-Naphthoflavone, an exogenous ligand of aryl hydrocarbon receptor, disrupts zinc homeostasis in human hepatoma HepG2 cells. J Toxicol Sci. 2019;44(10):711-720 Authors: Ishida T, Takechi S Abstract Recent studies have demonstrated a relationship between the disruption of zinc homeostasis and the onset of diseases. However, little is known about the factors that disrupt zinc homeostasis. Here, we investigated the effects of β-naphthoflavone, an exogenous ligand of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), on intracellular zinc levels. Human hepatoma HepG2 cells were treated with β-naphthoflavone for 3 days, and intracellular labile and total zinc levels were assessed through flow cytometry and inductively coupled plasma atom emission spectroscopy, respectively. The mRNA levels of zinc transporters were determined by real-time PCR. Treatment of cells with β-naphthoflavone induced a decrease in intracellular labile zinc in a dose-dependent manner, with significantly decreased levels observed at 1 µM compared with controls. Additionally, intracellular total zinc levels demonstrated a decreasing trend with 10 µM β-naphthoflavone. Zinc pyrithione recovered the decrease in intracellular labile zinc levels induced by β-naphthoflavone, while zinc sulfate had no effect. Moreover, significant decreases in the mRNA levels of zinc transporters ZnT10 and ZIP5 were observed in response to 10 µM β-naphthoflavone. These results demonstrated that β-...
Source: Journal of Toxicological Sciences - Category: Toxicology Tags: J Toxicol Sci Source Type: research