Tissue Zinc Concentrations Research Articles

Transcriptomics of different tissues of blueberry and diversity analysis of rhizosphere fungi under cadmium stress

Blueberry (Vaccinium ssp.) is a perennial shrub belonging to the family Ericaceae, which is highly tolerant of acid soils and heavy metal pollution. In the present study, blueberry was subjected to cadmium (Cd) stress in simulated pot culture. The transcriptomics and rhizosphere fungal diversity of blueberry were analyzed, and the iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) content of blueberry tissues, soil and DGT was determined. A correlation analysis was also performed. A total of 84 374 annotated genes were identified in the root, stem, leaf and fruit tissue of blueberry, of which 3370 were DEGs, and in stem tissue, of which 2521 were DEGs. The annotation data showed that these DEGs were mainly concentrated in a series of metabolic pathways related to signal transduction, defense and the plant–pathogen response. Blueberry transferred excess Cd from the root to the stem for storage, and the highest levels of Cd were found in stem tissue, consistent with the results of transcriptome analysis, while the lowest Cd concentration occurred in the fruit, Cd also inhibited the absorption of other metal elements by blueberry. A series of genes related to Cd regulation were screened by analyzing the correlation between heavy metal content and transcriptome results. The roots of blueberry rely on mycorrhiza to absorb nutrients from the soil. The presence of Cd has a significant effect on the microbial community composition of the blueberry rhizosphere. The fungal family Coniochaetaceae, which is extremely extremelytolerant, has gradually become the dominant population. The results of this study increase our understanding of the plant regulation mechanism for heavy metals, and suggest potential methods of soil remediation using blueberry.

Quantification of spatial metal accumulation patterns in Noccaea caerulescens by X-ray fluorescence image processing for genetic studies

BackgroundHyperaccumulation of trace elements is a rare trait among plants which is being investigated to advance our understanding of the regulation of metal accumulation and applications in phytotechnologies. Noccaea caerulescens (Brassicaceae) is an intensively studied hyperaccumulator model plant capable of attaining extremely high tissue concentrations of zinc and nickel with substantial genetic variation at the population-level. Micro-X-ray Fluorescence spectroscopy (µXRF) mapping is a sensitive high-resolution technique to obtain information of the spatial distribution of the plant metallome in hydrated samples. We used laboratory-based µXRF to characterize a collection of 86 genetically diverse Noccaea caerulescens accessions from across Europe. We developed an image-processing method to segment different plant substructures in the µXRF images. We introduced the concentration quotient (CQ) to quantify spatial patterns of metal accumulation and linked that to genetic variation.ResultsImage processing resulted in automated segmentation of µXRF plant images into petiole, leaf margin, leaf interveinal and leaf vasculature substructures. The harmonic means of recall and precision (F1 score) were 0.79, 0.80, 0.67, and 0.68, respectively. Spatial metal accumulation as determined by CQ is highly heritable in Noccaea caerulescens for all substructures, with broad-sense heritability (H2) ranging from 76 to 92%, and correlates only weakly with other heritable traits. Insertion of noise into the image segmentation algorithm barely decreases heritability scores of CQ for the segmented substructures, illustrating the robustness of the trait and the quantification method. Very low heritability was found for CQ if randomly generated substructures were compared, validating the approach.ConclusionsA strategy for segmenting µXRF images of Noccaea caerulescens is proposed and the concentration quotient is developed to provide a quantitative measure of metal accumulation pattern, which can be used to determine genetic variation for such pattern. The metric is robust to segmentation error and provides reliable H2 estimates. This strategy provides an avenue for quantifying XRF data for analysis of the genetics of metal distribution patterns in plants and the subsequent discovery of new genes that regulate metal homeostasis and sequestration in plants.

Tissue Zinc Concentration in Prostate Cancer: Relationship with Prostate Specific Antigen and Gleason Score in a Cohort of Nigerian Men

Introduction: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the commonest maliganacy among men of African descent. The possible role of trace elements like Zinc in its aetiogenesis and disease severity remains controversial. This paper aims to identify the relationship between tissue zinc concentration and the occurrence of prostate cancer. And to identify the relationship between the tissue zinc concentration and the disease severity (using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) and Gleason scores (GS)).Methodology: A cross-sectional study of 41 consecutive consenting men with histologically confirmed PCa and 41 age-matched controls. Toe-nail clippings were obtained from both groups and assayed for zinc using the Particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) technique. Zinc concentrations were compared between cases and controls. A correlation analysis was performed to determine relationship between Zinc concentration and disease severity (PSA and GS). Results: Forty one men each were recruited in the Prostate cancer and control groups for this study. PCa group had a mean age of 72.83 ± 7.06 years while the control group was 70.73 ±6.40 years. There was statistically significant higher toe-nail Zn concentration among Prostate cancer patients than controls (P= 0.028, t=2.28, df=40). The mean PSA values among the Prostate cancer group was 46.10 ± 40.62ng/ml and mode GS was 8.There was neither a correlation between toe-nail Zn concentration and serum PSA levels (p=0.386) nor with the GS. Conclusion: This study found a statistically significant higher toe-nail Zn concentration among men with PCa compared with age-matched controls. There was however no correlation between toe-nail Zn concentration and the serum prostate specific antigen or Gleason score.

Effect of Biochar Treated Sewage Sludge on the Yield and Uptake of Copper and Zinc in Chinese Cabbage (Brassica rapa)

One of the potential uses of treated sewage sludge is its application as a soil conditioner in agricultural fields. A factorial experiment was conducted to compare the main effects of biochar and sewage sludge and the interaction effect between biochar and sewage sludge on the plant uptake of copper and zinc and vegetable yield. The experiment was done in a green house and Chinese cabbage was used as the test crop. The experiment consisted of two factors namely, biochar and sewage sludge, each of which was applied to the soil at four levels. The copper and zinc concentration were determined in the laboratory based on Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. A two-way analysis of variance test was performed, and the Tukey’s HSD test was used to separate statistically significant treatment means at 5% level of significance. Results showed a significant interaction effect between biochar and sewage sludge (p = 0.012) on the level of copper concentration in plant tissue. It was observed that sewage sludge had a significant effect on zinc concentration (p < 0.001) in the plant tissue while biochar did not show any significant effect. Further, results showed significant increase in dry matter yield of Chinese cabbage with increasing levels of biochar applied (p < 0.001). This study demonstrates that biochar-treated sewage sludge has potential for use as a soil conditioner in vegetable production. However, it is recommended that care should be taken to avoid overuse by utilizing evaluated and treated sludge for soil amendment.

Growth performance, tissue precipitation, metallothionein and cytokine transcript expression and economics in response to different dietary zinc sources in growing rabbits.

The impact of different dietary zinc sources on the growth, serum metabolites, tissue zinc content, economics and relative expression of cytokine and metallothionein genes was evaluated in this study. A total of 120 35-day-old male New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits were randomly distributed into four dietary experimental groups with 10 replicates per group and 3 animals per replicate. The control group was fed basal diet with a Zn-free vitamin-mineral premix; the other three groups received control basal diet supplemented with 50mg/kg level with zinc oxide (ZnO; as inorganic source), Zn-methionine (Zn-Met; as organic source) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (nano-ZnO). The results indicated that Zn-Met and nano-ZnO groups significantly improved body weight, daily weight gain (DWG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and nutrient digestibility, as well as decreased mortality, compared to ZnO and control groups. Zn-Met and nano-ZnO significantly reduced serum total cholesterol but did not affect serum proteins and liver function. Nano-ZnO supplemented group also recorded the highest value of serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and lysozymes compared to other groups. Nano-ZnO supplementation had increased hepatic Zn and Cu content and decreased faecal Zn content. Also nano-ZnO group recorded higher expression levels of genes encoding for metallothionein I and metallothionein II, interleukin-2 and interferon-γ in the liver of rabbits. The findings of this study demonstrated zinc nanoparticles, and organic zinc supplementation had improved growth performance and health status of growing rabbits than inorganic zinc oxide.

The Efficiency Comparison and Application of Proposed Rhombus Ranked Set Sampling

A new scheme ‘Rhombus Ranked Set Sampling’ (RRSS) is developed in this research together with its properties for estimating the population means. Mathematical validation along with the simulation evaluation is presented. The proposed method is an addition to the family of different sampling methods and generalization of ‘Folded Ranked Set Sampling’ (FRSS). For the simulation process, nine probability distributions are considered for the efficiency comparison of proposed scheme from which four are symmetric and rest are asymmetric among which Weibull and beta distributions which are used twice, unlike parametric values. (Al-Naseer, 2007 and Bani-Mustafa, 2011). Through simulation processes, it is observed that RRSS is competent and more reliable relative to simple random sampling (SRS), ranked set sampling (RSS) and folded ranked set sampling (FRSS). It is noted that for all the underlying distributions, an increase in the efficiency of Rhombus Ranked Set Sampling (RRSS) is achieved via increasing the size of the sample ‘p’. Besides the efficiency comparison, consistency of the proposed method is also valued by using Co-efficient of Variation (CV). Secondary data on zinc (Zn) concentration and lead (Pb) contamination in different parts and tissues of freshwater fish was collected to illustrate the evaluation of RRSS against SRS, RSS, FRSS and ERSS (extreme ranked set sampling). The results obtained through real life illustration defend the simulation study and hence indicates that the RRSS estimator is efficient substitute for existing methods (Al-Omari, 2011).

Changes in Copper, Zinc, Arsenic, Mercury, and Lead Concentrations in Rat Biofluids and Tissues Induced by the "Renqing Changjue" Pill, a Traditional Tibetan Medicine.

The "Renqing Changjue" pill (RQCJ), as an effective prescription of Traditional Tibetan Medicine (TTM), has been widely used in treating advanced gastroenteropathy diseases for over a thousand years. However, the toxicity and adverse effects of TTM have attracted increasing attention because heavy metals may be added as active ingredients. In this work, we introduced a robust model based on endogenous metabolism enabling the study of changes in copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) concentrations and the mechanism between biofluids (blood and urine) and tissue (liver, kidney, spleen) samples from rats treated with RQCJ, along with metabolic changes after different treatment time points. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry was used to monitor the heavy metals. Slightly different trends of heavy metals were observed in rat metabolites. The levels of Hg, As, and Pb were clearly dose-dependent in the tissue and biofluid samples. Basic recovery of Hg and Pb was found after stopping treatment with RQCJ. The accumulation of As was more obvious in the blood, liver, kidney, and spleen; however, Hg was deposited in the kidney. Pb accumulated the most in the spleen. The concentrations of Cu and Zn were constant or accumulated to a certain extent, which could cause the body to have Cu and Zn metabolism disorders in the administration period. Our findings highlight how metal changes and effects on the mechanisms might contribute to the progression of understanding of the toxicity information for RQCJ. Therefore, precautions should be taken in the clinic to monitor the potential toxicity of RQCJ with long-term administration.

Zinc dyshomeostasis in azoxymethane-induced colonic precancerous and cancerous lesions in Fischer rats.

Zinc is an essential micronutrient involved in various biological processes. It is also argued that tumors need zinc for maintenance and proliferation and tumor cell apoptosis. Zinc homeostasis is regulated by the gastrointestinal tract and involves interplay of host, dietary, environmental and social factors such as alcohol consumption. The DNA alkylation agent azoxymethane (AOM), which is primarily activated in the liver, induces a high incidence of initiation and promotion steps of precancerous lesions in the colon of rats. The altered expression of hepatic zinc transporters by AOM may lead to zinc dyshomeostasis in liver. Decreased serum zinc concentration, despite increased liver zinc also indicates altered liver zinc mobilization and failure to regulate zinc homeostasis. During the transformation from normal colonic mucosa to colonic epithelial hyperplasia and aberrant crypt formation, a reduction in zinc concentration is observed. It will be interesting to study further if the same trend continues throughout tumor progression towards adenocarcinomas. Lowered local zinc concentrations in the colon epithelium may not just reflect a bystander effect, but may induce cell proliferation and compromise DNA integrity due to impairment of zinc-containing proteins. In congruence with the tissue zinc concentrations, metallothionein levels were found to be less induced in AOM -administered colon compared to normal healthy colon. Lowered tissue zinc levels in small and large intestine were also associated with increased expression of mRNA and protein ZnT1. In this regard, the mode of zinc responsiveness to ZnT1 mimics that of metallothionein, albeit at a lower level for ZnT1.

Oral Exposure to ZnO Nanoparticles Disrupt the Structure of Bone in Young Rats via the OPG/RANK/RANKL/IGF-1 Pathway.

PurposeTo evaluate the effects of ZnO NPs on bone growth in rats and explore the possible mechanisms of action.Materials and MethodsThree-week-old male rats received ultrapure water or 68, 203, and 610 mg/kg zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) for 28 days, orally.ResultsThe high-dosage groups caused significant differences in weight growth rate, body length, and tibia length (P<0.05), all decreasing with increased ZnO NP dosage. There were no significant differences in body mass index (BMI) (P>0.05). The zinc concentration in liver and bone tissue increased significantly with increased ZnO NP dosage (P<0.05). Clearly increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were observed in the 610 mg/kg ZnO NP group (P>0.05), whereas alkaline phosphatase (ALP) increased in the 610 mg/kg ZnO NP group (P<0.05). Significant differences in insulin-like growth factor type 1 (IGF-1) levels and a decrease in calcium (Ca) levels were observed in 203 and 610 mg/kg ZnO NP groups (P<0.05). Phosphorus (P) levels increased and the Ca/P ratio decreased in the 610 mg/kg ZnO NP group (P<0.05). Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) of the tibia demonstrated signs of osteoporosis, such as decreased bone density, little trabecular bone structure and reduced cortical bone thickness. Micro-CT data further demonstrated significantly decreased bone mineral density (BMD), trabecular number (Tb.N), and relative bone volume (BV/TV) with increasing dosage of ZnO NPs. Osteoprotegerin (OPG) expression and the ratio of OPG to receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) were statistically lower in the 610 mg/kg ZnO NP group (P<0.05), whereas RANKL expression did not change significantly (P>0.05).ConclusionWe infer that ZnO NPs affect bone growth in young rats directly or indirectly by altering IGF-1 levels. Overall, the results indicate that ZnO NPs promote osteoclast activity and increase bone loss through the OPG/RANK/RANKL/IGF-1 pathway.

Iron and zinc homeostases in female rats with physically active and sedentary lifestyles.

To determine the effects of repeated physical activity on iron and zinc homeostases in a living system, we quantified blood and tissue levels of these two metals in sedentary and physically active Long-Evans rats. At post-natal day (PND) 22, female rats were assigned to either a sedentary or an active treatment group (n = 10/group). The physically active rats increased their use of a commercially-constructed stainless steel wire wheel so that, by the end of the study (PND 101), they were running an average of 512.8 ± 31.9 (mean ± standard error) min/night. After euthanization, plasma and aliquots of liver, lung, heart, and gastrocnemius muscle were obtained. Following digestion, non-heme iron and zinc concentrations in plasma and tissues were measured using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. Concentrations of both non-heme iron and zinc in plasma and liver were significantly decreased among the physically active rats relative to the sedentary animals. In the lung, both metals were increased in concentration among the physically active animals but the change in zinc did not reach significance. Similarly, tissue non-heme iron and zinc levels were both increased in heart and muscle from the physically active group. It is concluded that repeated physical activity in an animal model can be associated with a translocation of both iron and zinc from sites of storage (e.g. liver) to tissues with increased metabolism (e.g. the lung, heart, and skeletal muscle).

Bioaccumulation of trace metals and speciation of copper and zinc in Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) using XANES/EXAFS spectroscopies

Copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations in oyster soft tissues can be particularly high due to contamination, leading to extremely green/blue colors. This raises key questions regarding the behavior and speciation of trace metals in oyster soft tissues. This study investigated trace metal concentration profiles of contaminated Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) soft tissues collected from trace metal-contaminated coastal area of Xiangshan District using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Moreover, Cu and Zn speciation in contaminated and non-contaminated oyster soft tissues were investigated by X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy/extended X-ray absorption fine structure (XANES/EXAFS) spectroscopic methods. The contents of Cu (1,100–1,400 mg/kg) and Zn (500–700 mg/kg) dry weight were high in oyster soft tissue samples. The XANES/EXAFS results revealed that Cu and Zn existed primarily as copper (II) oxide (CuO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) in contaminated oysters. Furthermore, Cu and Zn formed clusters with Cu–O and Zn–O interatomic distances of 1.97 and 2.21 Å, (coordination numbers 1.0 and 5.6), respectively. In non-contaminated oysters, the less abundant Cu and Zn existed mainly as copper(I) sulfide (Cu2S) and zinc sulfide (ZnS) forming clusters with Cu–S and Zn–S (thiolates) bond distances of 2.09 and 1.23 Å (coordination numbers of 4.6 and 2.4). These results provide further understanding on the chemical speciation of Cu and Zn in contaminated and non-contaminated oyster soft tissues as well as the bioaccumulation of trace metals in the oyster soft tissues.

Impact of dietary zinc oxide nanoparticles on selected serum biomarkers, lipid peroxidation and tissue gene expression of antioxidant enzymes and cytokines in Japanese quail

BackgroundThe use of zinc oxide in the form of nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) is of great benefit due to its potent effectiveness and higher bioavailability compared to zinc oxide. This study aimed to investigate the impact of dietary inclusion of different doses of ZnO-NPs on selected serum biomarkers, lipid peroxidation and tissue gene expression of antioxidant enzymes and cytokines in Japanese quail. Eighty Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica) (45 days old) were randomly divided into four groups (20 birds for each) with 4 replicates (5 birds each). Birds in the first group were fed a basal diet alone and served as a control (C). Birds in groups 2–4 were fed the basal diet supplemented with ZnO-NPs at doses of 15 mg/kg, 30 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg for a period of 60 days. At the end of the experiment, all birds were sacrificed to collect blood in a plain vacutainer, whereas liver and brain tissues were stored frozen at -80 °C. The obtained sera were used for the analysis of selected biochemical parameters, whereas tissue homogenates were used for the estimation of zinc, oxidative stress biomarkers and gene expression of selected antioxidant enzymes and cytokines.ResultsZnO-NPs (30 and 60 mg/kg) induced a significant decrease in serum triacylglycerol (TAG) compared to the control. ZnO-NPs did not affect the activities of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total protein, albumin, globulin and tissue zinc concentrations but reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels compared to the control. The liver retained a higher zinc concentration than that of brain tissue. In a dose-dependent manner, ZnO-NPs upregulated the mRNA levels of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase: SOD1; catalase: CAT; glutathione peroxidase-1: GPX 1) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (interferon α: IFN-α; interleukin 6: IL-6) in liver and brain tissues.ConclusionThe current study suggests the inclusion of ZnO-NPs, particularly 60 mg/kg, in the diet of Japanese quails to improve antioxidant and immune status.

Zinc distribution within breast cancer tissue of different intrinsic subtypes

PurposeTo show feasibility of laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) for analysis of zinc content and concentration in breast cancer tissue and to correlate this with validated prognostic and predictive markers, i.e. histological grading and expression of steroid receptors (estrogen receptor, ER; progesterone receptor, PR) and human epidermal growth-factor receptor 2 (Her2).Methods28 samples of human invasive ductal breast cancer tissue were subclassified into groups of four different intrinsic subtypes according to the expression of ER, PR and Her2 by immunohistological staining and then analyzed for zinc content and distribution by LA-ICPMS applying a calibration technique based on spiked polyacrylamide gels. A correlation of zinc concentration with histological grading and molecular subtypes was analyzed.ResultsConsistent with results of a pilot-study LA-ICPMS was feasible to show zinc accumulation in cancerous tissue, even more adjacent healthy stroma was with proportional increase of zinc. Zinc levels were most elevated in triple-positive (TPBC) and in triple-negative (TNB) breast cancers.ConclusionLA-ICPMS was feasible to confirm a connection between zinc and grade of malignancy; furthermore, focusing on a correlation of zinc and intrinsic breast cancer subtypes, LA-ICPMS depicted an upwards trend of zinc for “high-risk-cancers” with highest levels in Her2-positive and in triple-negative (TNBC) disease. The currently uncommon alliance of clinicians and analytical chemists in basic research is most promising to exploit the full potential of diagnostic accuracy in the efforts to solve the enigma of breast cancer initiation and course of disease.

Effect of type of compost and application rate on growth and quality of lettuce plant

This study intends to assess the effect of compost types and rates on lettuce growth. A pot experiment was conducted at the greenhouse of the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine experimental station, Saudi Arabia. Three types (chicken residues, animal residues, and mixed organic residues) and four rates (1%, 2%, 4%, and 6%) were added to sandy soil. Lettuce seeds were sown in a nursery. After two weeks, each seedling was transplanted to a pot that contained 15 kg of soil. The lettuce plants were irrigated regularly for 60 days, then harvested following dry weight (DW) and chemical analyses. The results showed great variation in the DW, nutrient content, and heavy metals concentrations between the different compost treatments. It noted that DW of lettuce decreased with increasing rates of compost in certain treatments. Moreover, no plant growth occurred in some treatments derived from the mixed organic residue with higher application rates. The nutrient status of lettuce tissues varies greatly among different types of compost. The concentration of heavy metals and microelements present within the lettuce tissues was significantly affected by the types of compost. Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), and Nickel (Ni) concentrations in lettuce tissues ranged between 7.4 and 9.6, 81.5 and 104, 23.3 and 28.2, 3.7 and 5.8, and 27 and 30 mg kg−1, respectively. It revealed that heavy metals concentration increased in lettuce tissues with an increasing application rate of composts. The content of Zn, Pb, Cd, and Ni in lettuce plants were higher and did not meet the requirement set by national standards.

The metabolic function of the metal transporter SLC39A14

Microelement is one of the nutritional elements of the human body. They participate in a wide range of physiological and biochemical functions of the human body, such as electron transport, oxygen delivery, enzyme activity, and cell growth and differentiation, etc. They also could be used as auxiliary components of biological macromolecules, or as the functional components of hormones and vitamins, which are of great significance to maintain life activities. Among them, essential trace elements, such as iron, zinc, and manganese, are not produced or synthesized in the body, but indispensable to maintain the whole-body physiological function. Essential trace elements are absorbed and transported into the blood circulation by a variety of metal transporters in the upper digest tract. Recently, with the identification and discovery of metal transporters and multifunctional study, we gain an in-depth understanding of metal transporters in metabolic organs and various metabolic diseases. Solute carrier 39 (SLC39), also known as zinc importer protein (ZIP) family, is a metal importer. According to the homology analysis of gene sequence, this family has 14 members, SLC39A1–SLC39A14 (ZIP1–ZIP14). Based on the protein structure, ZIP family could be divided into four subfamilies: I, II, Gufa, and LIV-1. SLC39A14 belongs to the LIV-1 subfamily of ZIP zinc transporters (LZT) family. It has 8 transmembrane domains (TM), histidine-rich domains and a conserved “HEXHEXGD” fragment. SLC39A14 is mainly expressed on the cellular membrane. Recent studies have demonstrated that it is involved in the absorption of metals like zinc, iron, and manganese in different metabolic tissues or organs. The function of SLC39A14 was investigated by generating global or tissue-specific knockout mice in different metabolic organs such as the liver, pancreas, adipose, and skeletal muscle. Most of these studies indicate that Slc39a14 -deletion may perturb tissue metabolic functions, such as insulin synthesis and secretion, disrupted insulin sensitivity or tissue metal absorption. More specifically, for the Slc39a14 global knockout mice ( Slc39a14-KO ), the insulin sensitivity and adipocyte differentiation are impaired in adipose tissue. Slc39a14-KO also disrupts gluconeogenesis in hepatic tissue induced by low tissue zinc content. Meanwhile, hepatocyte-specific knockout of Slc39a14 shows that SLC39A14 may be involved in hepatic manganese transportation and non-transferrin-bound iron (NTBI). In the mouse β cell line (Min6), SLC39A14 is involved in the endocrinal function of the pancreas, especially the insulin synthesis and secretion function in β cell. Furthermore, SLC39A14 function in skeletal muscle and myoblast suggests that SLC39A14 may regulate tissue zinc homeostasis in skeletal muscle of tumor metastasis animal model. In C2C12 myoblasts, SLC39A14 participates in myogenic differentiation and myotube development. In addition, the expression of SLC39A14 is not only regulated by the concentration of trace elements in blood circulation and intake level of elements from diets but also regulated by inflammatory factors such as LPS and IL-6. In this review, the metabolic function of metal transporters SLC39A14 in different tissues and organs is summarized.

Effect of zinc nanoparticles on embryo and chicken growth, and the content of zinc in tissues and faeces

The hypothesis was that owing to their high bioavailability, zinc oxide nanoparticles (NanoZnO) can effectively replace (Zn) salts and reduce Zn excretion with faeces. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of NanoZnO on the development of chicken embryos, the growth of broiler chickens, and Zn excretion with faeces. At day 1 of incubation, 120 eggs were randomly divided between a control group (not injected) and groups injected with a hydrocolloid of NanoZnO in increasing concentrations (50, 100, 500 mg/L). At day 19 of incubation, no differences were observed in the bodyweight, but 100 and 500 mg/L affected liver and heart weights, indicating that high levels of NanoZnO may induce differential organ development. In the subsequent experiment, 308 chickens were randomly divided into six groups. The control diet was supplemented with 55 mg Zn/kg (standard level), the 0 group received no Zn supplement, and groups fed NanoZnO received 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the standard level. The 100% replacement of ZnO with NanoZnO increased the chickens’ bodyweight compared with the standard level of ZnO, but to the same level as the diet without ZnO supplementation. Furthermore, NanoZnO did not reduce the content of Zn in faeces, which was only significantly lower in the group without ZnO supplementation in comparison with other groups. The results indicate that the replacement of ZnO with NanoZnO had no negative effects on chicken growth. Compared with ZnO, NanoZnO did not reduce Zn excretion with faeces.&#x0D; Keywords: broiler, development, excretion, mineral, nanonutrition

Evaluation of the content and bioaccessibility of selected metals from barley grass

The evaluation of the content of zinc and copper in plant tissues of barley grass growing on enriched in zinc/copper solutions (sulphate, glycine complex, rutin complex) were studied by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The highest concentrations of Zn were found in the roots and leaves, growing on solutions enriched in the rutin-zinc(II) and sulphate solutions. The highest concentrations of Cu were found in the leaves, growing on solutions enriched in the glycine-copper(II) complex solutions. The research showed that the barley accumulates the zinc/copper from the nutrient solution, therefore, in the next step of the investigation the evaluation of bioaccessibility was carried out. The bioaccessibility of copper and zinc were evaluated from the various enriched cultivation solutions by the inductively coupled mass spectrometry coupled with size exclusion chromatography. Plants growing on solutions enriched in the zinc/copper complexes with amino acids (glycine) and flavonoids (rutin) accumulated excessive amounts of these elements in tissues. Additionally, the bioaccessibility is significantly higher than from the plant’s tissues growing on zinc/copper salts solutions.

Waterborne Exposure of Adult Sand Dollar, Scaphechinus Mirabilis (Agassiz, 1864), to Zinc Ions and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Affects Early Development of its Offspring

Early development of the sand dollar, Scaphechinus mirabilis, and damage to DNA molecules in spermatozoa and larval cells were studied after a waterborne exposure of adult individuals to zinc ions (Zn2+) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NP). It was found that the proportion of retarded and abnormal larvae increases if the parental individuals have been kept in aqueous solutions containing ionic and nanoform of zinc at concentrations of 100 and 200 μg/L. The percentage of DNA in comet tail and GDI was higher after the exposure to ZnO NP, compared with the Zn2+ exposure, at a concentration of 200 μg/L. Accumulation of zinc in soft tissues of S. mirabilis was also studied. The zinc concentrations in the soft tissues of both experimental groups of sand dollars proved to be higher than that in control groups. The results of the study have shown that the ionic form of zinc exhibits a lower bioavailability compared with ZnO NP and supported the higher toxic effect of the high concentrations ZnO NP.

Elemental Zn and its Binding Protein Zinc-\u03b12-Glycoprotein are Elevated in HPV-Positive Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is biologically distinct from HPV-negative HNSCC. Outside of HPV-status, few tumor-intrinsic variables have been identified that correlate to improved survival. As part of exploratory analysis into the trace elemental composition of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), we performed elemental quanitification by X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) on a small cohort (n = 32) of patients with HPV-positive and -negative OPSCC and identified in HPV-positive cases increased zinc (Zn) concentrations in tumor tissue relative to normal tissue. Subsequent immunohistochemistry of six Zn-binding proteins—zinc-α2-glycoprotein (AZGP1), Lipocalin-1, Albumin, S100A7, S100A8 and S100A9—revealed that only AZGP1 expression significantly correlated to HPV-status (p < 0.001) and was also increased in tumor relative to normal tissue from HPV-positive OPSCC tumor samples. AZGP1 protein expression in our cohort significantly correlated to a prolonged recurrence-free survival (p = 0.029), similar to HNSCC cases from the TCGA (n = 499), where highest AZGP1 mRNA levels correlated to improved overall survival (p = 0.023). By showing for the first time that HPV-positive OPSCC patients have increased intratumoral Zn levels and AZGP1 expression, we identify possible positive prognostic biomarkers in HNSCC as well as possible mechanisms of increased sensitivity to chemoradiation in HPV-positive OPSCC.

Comparative study of zinc oxide nanoparticles and its bulk form on liver function of Wistar rat.

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are produced in high tonnage each year; they are widely used in consumer and industrial products, also now finding applications in bioimaging and drug delivery. In the present study, comparison between ZnO NPs (39 nm) and its bulk/micron form (particle size = 5 µm) on liver function of rats was determined. In our study, liver enzymes biomarkers, serum lipid profile, zinc concentration, and histopathological examination in liver tissues were used to evaluate liver injury. Moreover, lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde), nitric oxide, and reduced glutathione levels were determined to detect the oxidation-reduction process in liver tissue. The results showed dose-dependent toxicity of ZnO NPs. Three different dose levels (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg bw) were used, and the 100-mg/kg bw ZnO NPs group showed the most significant changes in liver enzymes and histopathological structure, as well as redox state. The dose of 100 mg/kg bw of ZnO bulk group showed no significant effects on liver function. The study concluded that ZnO NPs caused hepatic impairments.