[Effects of zinc on the expression of metallothionein isoforms in stressed hippocampal neurons in vitro]

To evaluate the effects of different doses of zinc on the expression of metallothionein isoforms in stressed hippocampal neurons in vitro.The cell stress model was developed by corticosterone. The cultured hippocampal neurons were assigned to seven groups as follows: control group, zinc deficiency group, and their corresponding stressed groups, as well as three different levels of zinc complementarity groups.In zinc deficiency group, the expressions of metallothionein and MT-1 mRNA, MT-3 mRNA were downregulated. On the other hand, inductions of metallothionein and it's mRNAs in stressed zinc complementarity group were increased. In addition, the levels of supernatant IL-6 and NO were increased clearly in zinc deficiency group and corticosterone stressed groups.Our results suggest that zinc deficiency may decrease while zinc complementarity increase the expressions of metallothioneins and MT-1 mRNA, MT-3 mRNA in stressed hippocampal neurons in vitro.