Trace element zinc metabolism and its relation to tumors

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024 Dec 5:15:1457943. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1457943. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Zinc is an essential trace element in the human body, playing a crucial role in cellular metabolism.Dysregulation of zinc homeostasis can lead to abnormal cellular metabolism, contributing to diseases and closely related to tumor development. Adequate zinc intake can maintain zinc homeostasis in the body and support normal cellular metabolism. This review discusses the metabolic processes of zinc in the human body and its close relationship with tumorigenesis. It briefly describes zinc absorption, transport, storage, and release, as well as its important role in gene expression, signal transduction, oxidative stress, immune response, and apoptosis. It focuses on the abnormal cellular metabolism caused by excessive or insufficient zinc, the relationship between zinc homeostasis disruption and metabolic syndrome, and the mechanisms involved in tumor development. It analyzes how changes in the expression and activity of zinc transporters may lead to disrupted zinc homeostasis in tumor tissues. It points out that zinc deficiency is associated with various cancers, including prostate cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and breast cancer. The summary emphasizes that zinc metalloproteins could serve as potential targets for cancer therapy, and regulating the expression and activity of zinc transport proteins may offer new methods and strategies for clinical cancer treatment.

Keywords: cancer therapy; controversy; metabolic syndrome; zinc; zinc metabolism.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Homeostasis*
  • Humans
  • Neoplasms* / metabolism
  • Trace Elements* / metabolism
  • Zinc* / metabolism

Substances

  • Zinc
  • Trace Elements

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The study was supported by: Scientific Research Foundation of Education Department of Yunnan Province (No. 2020J0228, 2023J0295), Kunming Medical University Joint Project of Department of Science and Technology of Yunnan Province (No. 202301AY070001-108); Kunming City Health Science and Technology Talent “1000” training Project (No. 2020-SW (Reserve)-112), Kunming Health Personnel Training Project Technology Center Construction Project (No. 2020-SW (Tech) -15) and Yunnan Province Clinical Research Center for Children’s Health and Disease. The funding bodies played no role in the study’s design and collection, analysis and interpretation of data, and writing the manuscript.