Journal
JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE
Volume 24, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
BMC
DOI: 10.1186/s12929-017-0394-0
Keywords
Zinc ions; Skeletal muscle; Cell signaling; Glycemic control
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Funding
- Clifford Craig Medical Research Trust Grant, Launceston, Australia
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Background: Zinc is a metal ion that is essential for growth and development, immunity, and metabolism, and therefore vital for life. Recent studies have highlighted zinc's dynamic role as an insulin mimetic and a cellular second messenger that controls many processes associated with insulin signaling and other downstream pathways that are amendable to glycemic control. Main body: Mechanisms that contribute to the decompartmentalization of zinc and dysfunctional zinc transporter mechanisms, including zinc signaling are associated with metabolic disease, including type 2 diabetes. The actions of the proteins involved in the uptake, storage, compartmentalization and distribution of zinc in cells is under intense investigation. Of these, emerging research has highlighted a role for several zinc transporters in the initiation of zinc signaling events in cells that lead to metabolic processes associated with maintaining insulin sensitivity and thus glycemic homeostasis. Conclusion: This raises the possibility that zinc transporters could provide novel utility to be targeted experimentally and in a clinical setting to treat patients with insulin resistance and thus introduce a new class of drug target with utility for diabetes pharmacotherapy.
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