Zinc is an essential nutrient for all organisms because of the many important roles this metal plays.
Movement of zinc into and out of cells and subcellular organelles is mediated by zinc transporter proteins.
In many organisms, zinc uptake is mediated by members of the ZIP family of metal ion transporters.
In mammals, the Zip1, Zip2, ZIP4, Zip4, ZIP7, LIV-1 (ZIP7), KE4 (Zip7), and BIGM103 (Zip8) proteins have been implicated in zinc uptake in a variety of cell and tissue types.
ZIP7 (Ke4, Slc39a7) also belongs to the ZIP family of zinc transporters.
Transient expression of the V5-tagged human ZIP7 fusion protein in CHO cells led to elevation of the cytoplasmic zinc level.
However, the precise function of ZIP7 in cellular zinc homeostasis is not clear.
Here we report that the ZIP7 gene is ubiquitously expressed in human and mouse tissues.
The endogenous ZIP7 was associated with the Golgi apparatus and was capable of transporting zinc from the Golgi apparatus into the cytoplasm of the cell.