Aberrant cytokine secretion and zinc uptake in chronic cadmium-exposed lung epithelial cells.

Purpose: Our previous results showed that cadmium (Cd)-adapted lung epithelial cells (LECs) developed resistance to apoptosis due to non-responsiveness of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathway and augmented expression of cytokeratin 8. Since cellular Cd entry is a prerequisite in order for Cd to elicit its cytotoxicity, therefore, we wonder if there are differential metal ion transport ability and also other phenotypic changes that occurred in these Cd-resistant LECs.

Experimental Design And Results: Here, we explored further and found that the zinc (Zn) importer Zip8 was stably abolished in these cells along with a marked decrease of Cd and Zn accumulation.