Project description:Amino complexed zinc has superior uptake to hydroxy-complexed zinc, in both WT mice, and particularly in ZIP4 (zinc transporter) knockout mice.
Project description:We investigated the effect of zinc depletion on the mouse intestine, and specifically on paneth cells. Mice were placed on a zinc depleted diet for 7 weeks after which they were given TNF for 3 hours and the the effects of dietary zinc shortage on paneth cells in TNF context were investigated. A zinc is an essential element for correct paneth cell function and zinc defficiency is a human and animal health problem investigating the PC transcriptom my provide valuable insights into the exact mechanism.
Project description:This study underlines the beneficial use of excess dietary zinc in preventing colitis and inflammatory events. Zn-induced gene expression profiles were analyzed at ileum and colon level. A total number of 101 profiles were found differentially expressed during Zn supplemented diet, with an unbalanced pattern between these two tissues. A largest number of genes were found up-regulated in colon (22 genes), unlike the ileum (6 genes). At the other side, the number of down-regulated genes was higher in ileum (63 genes) against the colon (15 genes). Very few common profiles were detected in these two tissues, 3 up- and 2 down-regulated genes respectively. Genes coding for metallothioneins (Mt1, Mt2) and for phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate 5-kinase (Pip5k1a) were found commonly up-regulated in ileum and colon, with the highest FC values. Genes coding for the zinc transporter of solute carrier family 39 (Slc39a4) and for lymphotoxin B (Ltb) were found commonly down-regulated with among the lowest FC values. Despite the different patterns, functional clustering of expressed genes converged for substantially the same physiological activities in both ileum and colon: intestinal tissue protection and epithelium reestablishment, immune system regulation as well as digestive and metabolic targeted functions.
Project description:To identify the molecular pathways that are perturbed due to transient zinc chelation Zinc is known to regulate the functions of about 10% of the human proteome and a large number of physiological processes that are zinc dependent have been identified and characterized under conditions of zinc deficiency and supplementation. As zinc homeostasis is closely linked to the normal functioning of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, many pathogens are directly or indirectly affected by perturbations in zinc homeostasis. Dengue virus (DENV), a mosquito-borne, positive-strand RNA virus from the family Flaviviridae, has emerged as one of the major public health concerns in India and recent estimates suggest that over 60 million people globally get infected with DENV every year. The crystal structures of NS5 protein of DENV and West Nile virus have identified zinc binding site in RdRp domain and propose an important structural role for zinc ions in polymerase activity. Therefore, we investigated whether perturbation in intracellular zinc pools influence dengue infection. We utilized N,N,N’,N’-tetrakis(2-pyridinylmethyl)-1,2-ethanediamine (TPEN), a zinc-specific chelator, to mimic zinc-deficiency in cell culture models of infection and investigated the effect of zinc depletion on DENV life-cycle.
Project description:The breast cancer prognosis remains challenging, with an increased zinc level reported in some breast tumor tissue. This study investigated the impact of a zinc chelator, (9-anthrylmethyl) bis(2-pyridylmethyl) amine (APA) on breast cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. We report that APA application inhibits breast cancer cell proliferation and zinc metabolism. Our RNA-seq analysis demonstrated that APA treatment influenced cell cycle progression and division by downregulating DNA synthesis and DNA damage repair processes. Further, qPCR and western blot analyses showed that the mRNA and protein expression of cyclins were downregulated by APA application. Interestingly, the addition of zinc chloride (Zncl2) did not decrease APA toxicity but instead significantly enhanced its’ effect. Furthermore, the zinc exporter, slc30a1, was upregulated after APA treatment. By using Fluozin3 staining, we detected that zinc concentration in the cytoplasm of SLC30A1 knockdown MDAMB231 cells was significantly elevated. Moreover, the reduction of slc30a1 enhanced the APA inhibitory effect on MDAMB231 cells in vitro. Finally, we found that APA combined with slc30a1 blockage significantly suppressed MDAMB231 tumor growth in a xenograft mouse model. Overall, this study suggests that APA disrupts cellular zinc metabolism. Combination with APA and slc30a1 inhibition providing a promising clinical approach for breast cancer treatment.
Project description:How cells safeguard essential zinc-dependent functions during zinc deficiency is poorly understood. A long-debated strategy is whether soluble metal-trafficking chaperones exist to prioritize specific zinc-dependent proteins. We identified a eukaryotic family of metallochaperones that physically interacts with zinc-dependent methionine aminopeptidase type I (MAP1) in human and yeast. Deletion of the yeast metallochaperone-encoding gene NMC1 (formerly YNR029c) leads to a zinc-deficiency growth defect and defective initiator methionine cleavage caused by loss of Map1p activity. To better understand the observed fitness defects due to the lack of NMC1 under zinc deficiency, we used proteomics with Tandem Mass Tag (TMT) quantitation derived from WT, nmc1Delta, and map2Delta nmc1Delta strains grown in zinc-limited (1 uM) or zinc-replete (100 uM) conditions. Proteomics reveal global impacts due to the loss of NMC1 and Map1p function, including mis-regulation of the Zap1p regulon, and suggests that Nmc1p is required to avoid a compounding effect of Map1p dysfunction on cell survival during zinc deficiency.