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Department of Biological Sciences, Program in Neuroscience, Ohio University Athens, OH 45701
3To whom correspondence should be addressed.
| ABSTRACT |
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KEY WORDS: zinc ion transport heavy metal ions trace elements metal transporters rat
| INTRODUCTION |
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| Histochemically detectable zinc |
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Approximately 10% of the total brain zinc is in a histochemically
reactive chelatable pool (Fredrickson et al. 1983
).
Particularly in hippocampal mossy fibers, this zinc is localized to the
lumen of glutamate containing synaptic vesicles. When these
fibers are stimulated by K+ depolarization,
kainic acid treatment or electrically, it is possible to detect zinc
release and the depletion of the histochemically reactive zinc pool
(Aniksztein et al. 1987
, Assaf and Chung 1984
, Charton et al. 1985
, Howell et al. 1984
). Although not proven, it is presumed that such zinc
release is the result of synaptic vesicle fusion with the presynaptic
membrane. Large amounts of zinc are thought to be released along with
glutamate, so it has been hypothesized that zinc could play an
important neuromodulatory role at glutamatergic synapses. In support of
this notion, micromolar concentrations of zinc have been shown to
inhibit N-methyl-D-aspartate
(NMDA)4
receptors (Chen et al. 1997
, Paoletti et al. 1997
, Traynelis et al. 1998
). Two modes of
inhibition exist that are either voltage dependent or voltage
independent. The NR1 subunit appears to play a critical role in
determining the sensitivity to zinc. In addition, zinc blocks
-aminobutyric acidA receptor currents
(Berger et al. 1998
, Fisher and MacDonald 1998
), the glutamate transporter EAAT1 (Vandenberg et al. 1998
) and the dopamine transporter
(Norregaard et al. 1998
). Released zinc is then taken
back up into neurons to replenish depleted synaptic vesicle stores
(Howell et al. 1984
, Perez-Clausell and Danscher 1986
). The process of neuronal uptake of zinc is mediated by a
saturable transporter in the plasma membrane (see later) with a zinc
affinity in the range of
20 µmol/l (Colvin 1998a
, Colvin et al. 2000
, Howell et al. 1984
, Wensink et al. 1988
).
Depolarized neurons exhibit rapid zinc uptake that can be associated with excitotoxicity.
Cortical neurons in primary culture have provided a useful model system
in which to study depolarization-induced zinc entry. This type of
movement of zinc across the plasma membrane may have immense
pathophysiological significance, because this is thought to be the
means by which zinc contributes to excitotoxicity (Koh et al. 1996
). Studies have shown that when cells incubated in high
concentrations of zinc are excited with glutamate, zinc rapidly enters
the cell, and intracellular concentrations of zinc increase
significantly and can reach levels that are toxic (Koh and Choi 1994
, Sensi et al. 1997
).
Depolarization-induced zinc influx is probably mediated primarily
by L-type dihydropyridine-sensitive
Ca2+ channels, because
K+-stimulated neuronal
65Zn2+ uptake and toxicity
are blocked by nimodipine, verapamil or 10 µmol/l
Gd3+ and only partially blocked by
-conotoxin
GVIA (Sensi et al. 1997
). Increasing extracellular
Ca2+ to 1020 mmol/l reduced zinc-induced
neuronal death consistent with a competition between zinc and calcium
for entry routes (Koh and Choi 1994
). Zinc-induced
neurotoxicity showed sensitivity to NMDA channel antagonists
(Koh and Choi 1994
), suggesting that zinc entry can also
occur via glutamate-activated channels. The application of either
NMDA or kainate to cortical cells in the presence of 300 µmol/l zinc
resulted in a rapid elevation in intracellular zinc. Glutamate
agonistinduced zinc uptake was blocked by the addition of the
corresponding antagonists [i.e.,
D2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoate and
1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6-nitro-2,3-dioxo-benzo[f]quinoxaline-7-sulfonamide.
It should be noted, however, that entry through
Ca2+ channels also contributes to the rise in
intracellular zinc after kainate exposure (Sensi et al. 1997
). Using the fluorescent dye mag-Fura-5, cell body zinc was
estimated to reach a maximum of 50 nmol/l under these conditions. A
small apparent Na+/Zn2+
exchange current was observed in cortical neurons when extracellular
Na+ was held at zero (Sensi et al. 1997
). This exchange current was completely inhibited by 300
µmol/l benzamil. These data suggest that zinc may substitute for
Ca2+ in the
Na+/Ca2+ exchange transport
mechanism. However, micromolar concentrations of zinc inhibit
45Ca2+ transport by the
Na+/Ca2+ exchanger in a
manner that is not consistent with competitive kinetics (Colvin 1998b
).
Resting neurons slowly accumulate zinc.
Zinc uptake in resting cultured neurons probably represents
transporter-mediated zinc uptake. Resting zinc uptake was measured
in cultured cortical neurons by incubating neurons in a physiological
buffer (modified Locks buffer) containing various concentrations of
65Zn2+. These studies show
that cultured neurons slowly accumulate
65Zn2+ under these
conditions and that a steady state
65Zn2+ content is obtained
after several hours of incubation. Shown in Figure 1
is the concentration dependence of
65Zn2+ uptake measured in
cultured neurons that had been exposed to
65Zn2+-containing
buffers for 15 min at 37°C. Zinc uptake clearly shows saturation
kinetics, and the apparent Km value is
1020 µmol/l. Lanthanum (maximal effect seen at 5 mmol/l) inhibits a
portion of 65Zn2+ uptake.
The data presented in Figure 1
represent
La3+-sensitive
65Zn2+ uptake. The nature
of the La3+-insensitive
65Zn2+ uptake is still
unclear. Figure 2
shows the time course of
65Zn2+ uptake in the
presence of 5 mmol/l La3+. Over the range of zinc
concentrations used (1065 µmol/l) in these studies, a substantial
amount of the total uptake of
65Zn2+ is
La3+ insensitive. However, a comparison of
Figures 1
& 2
shows that important differences exist between
La3+-sensitive and - insensitive
65Zn2+ uptake. Figure 2
shows that La3+-insensitive uptake was very rapid
and nearly complete within the first time point assayed (15 min). This
finding contrasts with that seen for
La3+-sensitive
65Zn2+ uptake, where uptake
continues for several hours. Another important difference is
that over the concentration range studied (1065 µmol/l),
La3+-insensitive
65Zn2+ uptake appears to be
nearly saturated. The above results provide evidence for a binding site
for 65Zn2+ in cultured
neurons with submicromolar affinity. This binding site may be on the
cell surface, as the rapid time course argues against cellular
accumulation. In the uptake assay, the cells are washed three times
with 1 mmol/l EGTA before cells are lysed and
65Zn2+ content is
determined, so if La3+-insensitive
65Zn2+ uptake represents
surface binding, it would have to be occluded in some way. The addition
of the heavy metal chelator o-phenanthroline to the uptake
reaction blocked nearly all of the
La3+-insensitive
65Zn2+ uptake (Fig. 3
).
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To test the effect of various channel blockers on
65Zn2+ uptake, purified
plasma membrane vesicles were used and the results of these experiments
are shown in Figure 4
. Appropriate blockers were chosen to block all the known routes of
depolarization-induced zinc uptake (see earlier). None of these
blockers had any effect on resting
65Zn2+ accumulation (either
La3+ sensitive or insensitive). These findings
support the notion that a distinct plasma membrane transporter is
mediating 65Zn2+ uptake
under these conditions.
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The first demonstration of a cloned gene that codes for a protein that
is likely to transport zinc across the plasma membrane was achieved
only recently by Gunshin et al. (1997
). They used the
heterologous expression system of Xenopus oocytes to isolate
a nonspecific divalent cation transporter they termed DCT1. In oocytes
injected with DCT1 mRNA, 50 µmol/l Fe2+ induced
a large inward current enhanced by lowering extracellular pH from 7.4
to 5.5. Large inward currents were obtained when
Zn2+, Mn2+,
Cu2+, Co2+ or
Cd2+ was used, and lesser currents were obtained
when Ni2+ and Pb2+ were
used. Presteady state currents suggested that
H+ may bind to the transporter. Steady state
currents were half-maximal at Fe2+ = 2
µmol/l. 55Fe2+ uptake in
NaCl-containing medium was the same as that seen in
NaNO3, NaSCN or choline Cl. The application of 50
µmol/l Fe2+ at pH 5.5 induced a faster and
larger intracellular acidification. These results suggest that
DCT1-mediated transport of Fe2+ is
H+ coupled in a symport mechanism. The
H+ effect was half-maximal at 1.3 µmol/l,
and the Hill coefficient for both Fe2+ and
H+ was
1, suggesting a transport
stoichiometry of 1:1. DCT1 is a large protein and is predicted to have
12 transmembrane-spanning domains.
A second possible plasma membrane zinc transporter (ZnT-1) has been
cloned (Palmiter and Findley 1995
). This protein is one
member of a family of proteins (Palmiter et al. 1996a
,
1996b
, Huang and Gitschier 1997
; for a
review, see McMahon and Cousins 1998
) in which the other
members of the family are localized to intracellular vesicular
membranes. ZnT-1 is a smaller protein than DCT1 and is predicted to
have only six transmembrane-spanning domains. Although the
expression of ZnT-1 in cultured cells clearly has effects on zinc
influx and efflux, it has never been directly demonstrated to transport
zinc. The expression of ZnT-1 increased the rate of zinc influx and
efflux from cells to the same extent. The efflux of
65Zn2+ from cells
expressing ZnT-1 was increased in a dose-dependent manner by
increasing extracellular zinc over a range of 150 µmol/l.
Extracellular zinc had no effect on the rate of zinc efflux from cells
presumably lacking ZnT-1. Various inhibitors (10 mmol/l NaN or KCN) had
no effect on zinc influx or efflux. Cd2+ (10
µmol/l) and iodoacetate (1 mmol/l) inhibited influx by 35% but had
little effect on the rate of zinc efflux. There was no effect of
changing the ionic composition of the extracellular media (e.g.,
K+, tetramethylammonium and
Na+ all gave similar rates of transport;
likewise, similar transport rates were obtained in either acetate or
Cl-) on zinc efflux. The removal of
Ca2+ and Mg2+ had no effect
on the rate of transport.
| Future studies |
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Note added in proof:
Recently the molecular cloning and functional expression of a human homolog of the ZRT1 and ZRT2 genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been reported [Gaither, L.A. & Eide, D.J. (2000) Functional expression of the human hZIP2 zinc transporter. J. Biol. Chem. 275: 55605564]. When expressed in K562 erythroleukemia cells, the protein was localized to the plasma membrane and demonstrated saturable zinc uptake activity (Km = 3 µmol/l). Zinc uptake was inhibited when other transition elements were added or when the solution pH was lowered to 5.5.
| FOOTNOTES |
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2 Supported by a grant from the American Heart Association, Mid America Research Consortium. ![]()
4 Abbreviations used: NMDA, N-methyl-D-aspartate; ZnT, zinc transporter. ![]()
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