title: Cloning, expression, and vesicular localization of zinc transporter Dri 27/ZnT4 in intestinal tissue and cells.
abstract: We have identified the Dri 27 cDNA on the basis of its upregulated expression during rat intestinal development. It encodes a hydrophobic protein of 430 amino acids that shares significant homology with members of the mammalian zinc transporter family ZnT. The murine homologue of Dri 27 (named ZnT4) was recently associated with the mouse mutation "lethal milk." The primary sequence of Dri 27/ZnT4 displays features characteristic of polytopic membrane proteins. In this paper, we show that Dri 27/ZnT4 is localized in the membrane of intracellular vesicles, the majority of which concentrate in the basal cytoplasmic region of polarized enterocytes. A Dri 27/ZnT4 myc-tagged construct, transiently transfected in intestinal Caco-2 cells, partially colocalizes with the transferrin receptor and with the beta-subunits of the clathrin adaptor complexes AP-1 and AP-2 in a subpopulation of endosomal vesicles. By subcloning distinct portions of the protein in frame with glutathione-S-transferase, we also provide experimental evidence of their function as zinc-binding and protein-protein-interaction domains.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale della Nutrizione, 00178 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Murgia
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vespignani
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cerase
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nobili
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Perozzi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000502:physiology; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D018938:Caco-2 Cells; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D027682:Cation Transport Proteins; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003035:Cobalt / Q000378:metabolism; D003300:Copper / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000737:chemistry; D011992:Endosomes / Q000502:physiology; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D015723:Gene Library; D006639:Histidine / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000737:chemistry*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009532:Nickel / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000502:physiology; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015032:Zinc / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D027682:Cation Transport Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C491597:SLC30A4 protein, human; C491596:Slc30a4 protein, rat; D003035:Cobalt; D006639:Histidine; D003300:Copper; D009532:Nickel; D015032:Zinc