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