Studying the Role of Zinc (Zn2+) in Cellular Transitions Under Acidic Conditions

Abstract

The maintenance of ionic homeostasis is critical for cell metabolism, cell growth, and cell survival. It has been shown that pH and zinc dyshomeostases are linked to pathophysiological conditions such as cancerous mutations, urinary diseases, gastric infections, and ischemia. In particular, we observed that there were concentration increases of intracellular free zinc after acidic treatments. We further hypothesize that zinc may be a mediator for the acidic treatment‐induced cellular changes. A spindle shape or fibroblast‐like shape has been used as an indicator of decreased cell‐to‐cell adhesion, increased cellular motility, and an increased possibility of metastasis in cancer. Our preliminary experiments showed that the accumulation of spindle cells occurred after acidic treatments and that zinc chelation reduced the accumulation, indicating the role of Zn2+ in the accumulation of spindle cells. Spindle cell accumulation is a sign for cancer cell synchronizations at a particular phase in cell cycle, which provide windows for potential cancer therapeutics that target cell cycles. Our preliminary experiments showed that acidic treatments enhanced the expression of vimentin, which was attenuated by an application of zinc chelator, suggesting that zinc plays an important role in cellular transitions under acidic conditions. The significance of this research is to provide a novel mechanism that zinc may be a mediator in acidic treatment‐induced cellular changes. Acidic environment is seen in physiological condition such as gastric ulcer, and in abnormal conditions such as ischemia and cancer. It will be interesting to see how zinc is involved in these processes.Support or Funding InformationThanks to the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations, Graduate Assistantship Program at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine for supporting graduate student Yuli Hu.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.