title: A role for metallothionein in the pathogenesis of diabetes and its cardiovascular complications.
abstract: It has been suspected for a long time that zinc has a role in various aspects of diabetes, but specific molecular targets of zinc remained largely elusive. Recent discoveries of associations between diabetes and polymorphisms in human genes now suggest that proteins that control the cellular availability of zinc ions are involved. One protein is the zinc transporter ZnT-8 that supplies pancreatic beta-cells with zinc. The other is metallothionein 1A, a member of a protein family that links zinc and redox metabolism. Changes in the availability of zinc ions modulate insulin signaling and redox processes. Both zinc and metallothionein protect cells against the redox stress that occurs in diabetes and contributes to its progression towards diabetic complications, including heart disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, The University of Texas Medical Branch, 700 Harborside Drive, Galveston, TX 77555, USA. womaret@utmb.edu
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Maret
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D027682:Cation Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008668:Metallothionein / Q000378:metabolism*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D015032:Zinc / Q000378:metabolism; D000075703:Zinc Transporter 8
chemical_list: D027682:Cation Transport Proteins; C492522:SLC30A8 protein, human; D000075703:Zinc Transporter 8; D008668:Metallothionein; D015032:Zinc