title: A molecular mechanism for modulating plasma Zn speciation by fatty acids.
abstract: Albumin transports both fatty acids and zinc in plasma. Competitive binding studied by isothermal titration calorimetry revealed that physiologically relevant levels of fatty acids modulate the Zn-binding capacity of albumin, with far-reaching implications for biological zinc speciation. The molecular mechanism for this effect is likely due to a large conformational change elicited by fatty acid binding to a high-affinity interdomain site that disrupts at least one Zn site. Albumin may be a molecular device to "translate" certain aspects of the organismal energy state into global zinc signals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Darrell
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sleep
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Sadler
authors.forename: Teresa J T
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: Claudia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Blindauer
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D015032:Zinc / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D012709:Serum Albumin; D015032:Zinc