{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,27]],"date-time":"2026-06-27T16:13:22Z","timestamp":1782576802736,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,25]],"date-time":"2021-06-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1624579200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Various natural compounds have been successfully tested for preventing or counteracting the toxic effects of exposure to heavy metals. In this study, we analyzed the effects of cadmium chloride (CdCl2) on immortalized, non-tumorigenic thyroid cells Nthy-ori-3-1. We investigated the molecular mechanism underlying its toxic action as well as the potential protective effect of quercetin against CdCl2-induced damage. CdCl2 suppressed cell growth in a dose- and time-dependent manner (IC50 value ~10 \u03bcM) associated with a decrease in levels of phospho-ERK. In addition, CdCl2 elicited an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and lipid peroxidation. A significant increase in GRP78, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related protein, was also observed. Supplementation of quercetin counteracted the growth-inhibiting action of CdCl2 by recovering ERK protein phosphorylation levels, attenuating ROS overproduction, decreasing MDA content and reducing the expression of GRP78 in cells exposed to CdCl2. Thus, in addition to revealing the molecular effects involved in cadmium-induced toxicity, the present study demonstrated, for the first time, a protective effect of quercetin against cadmium-induced damages to normal thyroid cells.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms22136849","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,25]],"date-time":"2021-06-25T11:07:40Z","timestamp":1624619260000},"page":"6849","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["Quercetin Protects Human Thyroid Cells against Cadmium Toxicity"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Francesca","family":"Capriglione","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Sciences, University of Catanzaro \u2018Magna Graecia\u2019, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jessica","family":"Maiuolo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Sciences, University of Catanzaro \u2018Magna Graecia\u2019, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marilena","family":"Celano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Sciences, University of Catanzaro \u2018Magna Graecia\u2019, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Damante","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University of Udine, 33100 Udine, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7559-1595","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Diego","family":"Russo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Sciences, University of Catanzaro \u2018Magna Graecia\u2019, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefania","family":"Bulotta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Sciences, University of Catanzaro \u2018Magna Graecia\u2019, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valentina","family":"Maggisano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Sciences, University of Catanzaro \u2018Magna Graecia\u2019, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"65","DOI":"10.1007\/s00128-020-03088-1","article-title":"A review on Cadmium Exposure in the Population and Intervention Strategies against Cadmium Toxicity","volume":"106","author":"Wang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Bull Environ. 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