MINI REVIEW article
Front. Mol. Biosci.
Sec. Cellular Biochemistry
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2025.1618318
This article is part of the Research TopicIn Honor of Dr. Bruce Ames: Innovations in Mutagenesis and DNA RepairView all articles
Protective Role of Dietary Zinc on DNA Damage, Oxidative Stress, and Metal Toxicity
Provisionally accepted
- Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States
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Dr. Bruce Ames illustrious career spanned many decades with far-reaching impacts both on our knowledge of DNA and in public health. In the 1990s he explored the connection between inadequate intake of micronutrients and single-and double-strand DNA breaks, genome instability due to oxidative damage, and increased susceptibility to cancer and other age-related diseases. In particular, zinc is an essential micronutrient required for many biological processes and is a key component of numerous proteins and enzymes involved in the defense against oxidative stress and DNA damage repair. Reduced zinc status due to inadequate dietary intake, reduced zinc absorption and increased excretion can lead to increased risks for infectious diseases, diabetes, cancer, and neurological disorders. Changes in zinc status can also positively or negatively modulate the outcome of exposure to toxic heavy metals including arsenic, cadmium, and lead. This mini review highlights the role of zinc in maintaining DNA integrity and antioxidant defense, the health consequences of inadequate zinc intake, and the impact of zinc status on the response to environmental exposure to toxic metals. Collectively, the work by Dr. Ames and others advances our understanding of how zinc status plays an integral role in health, and reaffirms the idea originally put forth by Dr. Ames that optimizing micronutrient intake to ensure adequate nutrition, including zinc intake, is essential in promoting health, longevity, and disease prevention.
Keywords: Zinc, zinc deficiency, DNA Damage, Oxidative Stress, Heavy metals toxicity
Received: 25 Apr 2025; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wong, Beaver and Ho. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Emily Ho, Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, 97331, Oregon, United States
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