Zinc Transporters: Critical Regulators of Zinc Homeostasis

Abstract: Zinc， as a catalytic and structural cofactor for many enzymes and proteins， plays important roles in development， brain function， bone health， fertility and immunity. Beneficial therapeutic effects of zinc supplementation has been observed in children's diarrhea， chronic hepatitis C， acute lower respiratory tract infection， common cold， and many others. However， excessive zinc is potentially toxic. Indeed zinc deficiency or excessive has been linked to multiple diseases including cancer， diabetes and stroke. Therefore， maintenance of zinc homeostasis is critical for every aspect of cell physiology. In last decade， much progress has been made to uncover how organisms maintain zinc homeostasis， especially the discovery of two zinc transporter families SLC39A/ZIP and SLC30A/ZnT. It is still poorly understood how to maintain zinc homeostasis given the complexity of the process. In this review， we will focus on functions and molecular mechanisms of these two critical zinc transporter families in regulation of cellular zinc homeostasis.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2010.02.0003