Thymidine incorporation is less sensitive to lack of zinc in human than in rodent cells.

The inhibition of thymidine incorporation by inadequate availability of zinc induced by adding a chelator to the culture medium was significantly less in human cell lines than in rodent cell lines. In contrast, zinc uptake into the human cells was inhibited by the chelator to a greater extent than with rodent cells. The possible implications of these observations for the dietary zinc requirements of humans and rodents are discussed.