1. An Experimental Model of Human Absorptive Enterocytes (Caco-2) to Assess the Bioavailability of Various Metals Jonas Tallkvist Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Division of Pathology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden MITF 071018

2. Bioavailability ”The fraction of ingested metal that reaches the systemic circulation”

3. Factors Influencing Bioavailability Dose Age pH Gastrointestinal contents Nutritional status Disease

4. Metals Investigated in Caco-2 Cells V Co Fe Mn Ca Cu Cd Zn Ni Pb Cr Mg

5. Routes of Metal Absorption Basement membrane Blood vessel Mucosal/apical side Blood/basolateral side Enterocytes ActivePassive

6. The Caco-2 Cell Model Apical chamber Basolateral chamberPermeable filter support Caco-2 cells

7. Cadmium Absorption Zalups and Ahmad (2003) Toxcol Appl Pharm, 186, 3

8. Tallkvist et al., (2001) Tox Lett, 122, 171 Correlation Between DMT1 Expression and Cd Transport in Caco-2 Cells

9. Summary The Caco-2 cell model provides a useful tool to assess the bioavailability of metals at various defined experimental conditions. The Caco-2 cell model offers the possibility to gain insight into molecular mechanisms implicated in the bioavailability of metals.

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