Effects of hydroquinone on whole-genome scale transcription of human epidermal keratinocytes.

Hydroquinone (HQ) is a well-known phenolic compound that causes chemical leukoderma. Hydroquinone was once used as photographic developers for films and papers, and it is widely used as a topical application in skin whitening to reduce the color of skin. Recently, the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) banned all over-the-counter products with hydroquinone due to its potential toxicity. Topical cream with hydroquinone up to 4% should be prescribed and used with specific caution. In this study, to elucidate the toxicological role of keratinocyte in the pathogenesis of chemical leukoderma, we analyzed genome-wide transcriptional data of cultured human epidermal keratinocytes (HEKs) treated with sub-cytotoxic hydroquinone concentration. Human Epidermal Keratinocytes (HEKs) were treated with 10 microM of hydroquinone for 24 hours and harvested for total RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix Human GeneChip 133 2.0 microarrays.