Department of Anatomy, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju 61469, Korea.
School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Tra Vinh University, Tra Vinh City 87000, Vietnam.
Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Apr 23;21(8):2991. doi: 10.3390/ijms21082991.
Zinc is a group IIB heavy metal. It is an important regulator of major cell signaling pathways in most mammalian cells, functions as an antioxidant and plays a role in maintaining genomic stability. Zinc deficiency leads to severe diseases in the brain, pancreas, liver, kidneys and reproductive organs. Zinc loss occurs during tumor development in a variety of cancers. The prostate normally contains abundant intracellular zinc and zinc loss is a hallmark of the development of prostate cancer development. The underlying mechanism of this loss is not clearly understood. The knowledge that excess zinc prevents the growth of prostate cancers suggests that zinc-mediated therapeutics could be an effective approach for cancer prevention and treatment, although challenges remain. This review summarizes the specific roles of zinc in several cancer types focusing on prostate cancer. The relationship between prostate cancer and the dysregulation of zinc homeostasis is examined in detail in an effort to understand the role of zinc in prostate cancer.
锌是一种 IIB 族重金属。它是大多数哺乳动物细胞中主要细胞信号通路的重要调节剂，具有抗氧化作用，并在维持基因组稳定性方面发挥作用。缺锌会导致大脑、胰腺、肝脏、肾脏和生殖器官的严重疾病。在各种癌症中，肿瘤发展过程中会发生锌丢失。前列腺通常含有丰富的细胞内锌，锌丢失是前列腺癌发展的标志。这种丢失的潜在机制尚不清楚。过量的锌可以阻止前列腺癌的生长，这一知识表明，锌介导的治疗可能是癌症预防和治疗的有效方法，尽管仍存在挑战。本文综述了锌在几种癌症类型中的具体作用，重点介绍了前列腺癌。详细研究了前列腺癌与锌稳态失调之间的关系，以期了解锌在前列腺癌中的作用。
