title: Abundant expression of zinc transporters in Bergman glia of mouse cerebellum.
abstract: Zinc transporters (ZnTs) are membrane proteins involved in zinc ion transportation in mammalian cells. Seven members of ZnT family, ZnT1-7, have been cloned and characterized. These transporter proteins have different cellular and sub-cellular locations, suggesting that they may play different roles in zinc homeostasis in normal and pathological conditions in different tissues. Cerebellum is one of the most zinc-enriched regions in the central nervous system, but little is known about zinc metabolism in the cerebellum. In the present study, we investigated the detailed distributions of four members (ZnT1, ZnT3, ZnT4 and ZnT6) of the ZnT family, in the mouse cerebellum. Immunostaining and confocal microscopic observations revealed a similar staining pattern of ZnTs in the molecular layer and the Purkinje cell layer. Double labeling with anti-S-100beta or anti-MAP2 and anti-ZnTs clearly showed that the Bergman glial cell bodies in the Purkinje cell layer and their radial processes in the molecular layer exhibited strong immunofluorescence of all the tested ZnTs. However, the somata of the Purkinje cells contained a moderate immunostaining for ZnT1, but virtually lack of other three ZnTs. In the granular layer, ZnTs appeared with different immunostaining patterns. ZnT1 was expressed in a small number of neuronal cell bodies and their primary dendrites, whereas ZnT3 and ZnT4 were present in nerve terminals but not in the neuronal somata. ZnT6 was undetectable in either the cell bodies or processes in the granular layer. The present results indicate that the Bergman glial cells may play an important role in zinc metabolism in the mouse cerebellar cortex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, China Medical University, 92 Bei-Er-Road, Heping District, Shenyang 110001, PR China. wangzy@mail.cmu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Zhan-You
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Meredin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stoltenberg
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Gorm
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Danscher
authors.forename: Annica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dahlström
authors.forename: Yuxiu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Jia-Yi
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D027682:Cation Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D064568:S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D027682:Cation Transport Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; C079240:Mtap2 protein, mouse; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D064568:S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit; D009418:S100 Proteins; C485803:Slc30a1 protein, mouse; C491177:Slc30a3 protein, mouse; C109053:Slc30a4 protein, mouse