Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species involved in cold stress in HaCaT cells.

Cells and organisms respond to various stresses when exposed to heat, pressure, or physical stimulus. Response to stress can be regarded as a defence strategy for maintaining homeostasis. In plants, tolerance to low temperatures was made possible by the removal of reactive oxygen species (ROS), accumulation of sugars, and control of hormone concentration. On the other hand, there is little information about the cold stress response in mammals, because they are homoeothermic. However, the skin surface is prepared for temperature changes, and cold stress that can occur at high altitudes and cold districts. In this study, we tried to clarify the mechanism of response to cold stress in HaCaT cells used as a human epidermal cell model. We found that induction of cold stress-mediated cell death may be related to the generation of mitochondrial ROS in HaCaT cells.