Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110, United States of America.
Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125, United States of America.
Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Res. 2021 Jan;1868(1):118882. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2020.118882. Epub 2020 Oct 2.
C. elegans is a powerful model for studies of zinc biology. Here we review recent discoveries and emphasize the advantages of this model organism. Methods for manipulating and measuring zinc levels have been developed in or adapted to the worm. The C. elegans genome encodes highly conserved zinc transporters, and their expression and function are beginning to be characterized. Homeostatic mechanisms have evolved to respond to high and low zinc conditions. The pathway for high zinc homeostasis has been recently elucidated based on the discovery of the master regulator of high zinc homeostasis, HIZR-1. A parallel pathway for low zinc homeostasis is beginning to emerge based on the discovery of the Low Zinc Activation promoter element. Zinc has been established to play a role in two cell fate determination events, and accumulating evidence suggests zinc may function as a second messenger signaling molecule during vulval cell development and sperm activation.
秀丽隐杆线虫是研究锌生物学的有力模型。本文回顾了最新发现,并强调了该模式生物的优势。已经开发或适用于线虫的操纵和测量锌水平的方法。秀丽隐杆线虫的基因组编码高度保守的锌转运蛋白,其表达和功能开始被描绘。体内平衡机制已经进化以应对高锌和低锌条件。基于对高锌体内平衡主调控因子 HIZR-1 的发现,高锌体内平衡途径最近得到阐明。基于低锌激活启动子元件的发现,低锌体内平衡的平行途径开始显现。锌已被确定在两个细胞命运决定事件中发挥作用,越来越多的证据表明,锌可能在生殖道细胞发育和精子激活过程中作为第二信使信号分子发挥作用。