Journal
JOURNAL OF NUTRITION
Volume 130, Issue 5, Pages 1471S-1483SPublisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/jn/130.5.1471S
Keywords
zinc-containing neurons; glutamate; metallothionein; excitotoxicity GABA; Alzheimer's disease
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Zinc is essential to the structure and function of myriad proteins, including regulatory, structural and enzymatic, It is estimated that up to 1 % of the human genome codes for zinc finger proteins. In the central nervous system, zinc has an additional role as a neurosecretory product or cofactor. In this role, zinc is highly concentrated in the synaptic vesicles of a specific contingent of neurons, called zinc-containing neurons. Zinc-containing neurons are a subset of glutamatergic neurons. The zinc in the vesicles probably exceeds 1 mmol/L in concentration and is only weakly coordinated with any endogenous ligand. Zinc-containing neurons are found almost exclusively in the forebrain, where in mammals they have evolved into a complex and elaborate associational network that interconnects most of the cerebral cortices and limbic structures. Indeed, one of the intriguing aspects of these neurons is that they compose somewhat of a chemospecific private line of the mammalian cerebral cortex, The present review outlines (I) the methods used to discover, define and describe zinc-containing neurons; (2) the neuroarchitecture and synaptology of zinc-containing neural circuits; (3) the physiology of regulated vesicular zinc release; (4) the life cycle and molecular biology of vesicular zinc; (5) the importance of synaptically released zinc in the normal and pathological processes of the cerebral cortex; and (6) the role of specific and nonspecific stressors in the release of zinc.
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