Kandari Divya, Joshi Hemant, Bhatnagar Rakesh
Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering Laboratory, School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India.
Banaras Hindu University, Banaras 221005, India.
Pathogens. 2021 Mar 15;10(3):344. doi: 10.3390/pathogens10030344.
Zinc (Zn) is the quintessential d block metal, needed for survival in all living organisms. While Zn is an essential element, its excess is deleterious, therefore, maintenance of its intracellular concentrations is needed for survival. The living organisms, during the course of evolution, developed proteins that can track the limitation or excess of necessary metal ions, thus providing survival benefits under variable environmental conditions. Zinc uptake regulator (Zur) is a regulatory transcriptional factor of the FUR superfamily of proteins, abundant among the bacterial species and known for its intracellular Zn sensing ability. In this study, we highlight the roles played by Zur in maintaining the Zn levels in various bacterial species as well as the fact that in recent years Zur has emerged not only as a Zn homeostatic regulator but also as a protein involved directly or indirectly in virulence of some pathogens. This functional aspect of Zur could be exploited in the ventures for the identification of newer antimicrobial targets. Despite extensive research on Zur, the insights into its overall regulon and its moonlighting functions in various pathogens yet remain to be explored. Here in this review, we aim to summarise the disparate functional aspects of Zur proteins present in various bacterial species.
锌（Zn）是典型的d区金属，是所有生物生存所必需的。虽然锌是一种必需元素，但过量的锌是有害的，因此，维持细胞内锌的浓度是生存所必需的。在进化过程中，生物进化出了能够追踪必需金属离子的缺乏或过量的蛋白质，从而在多变的环境条件下提供生存优势。锌摄取调节蛋白（Zur）是FUR蛋白超家族的一种调节转录因子，在细菌物种中含量丰富，并以其细胞内锌传感能力而闻名。在本研究中，我们强调了Zur在维持各种细菌物种中锌水平方面所起的作用，以及近年来Zur不仅作为锌稳态调节因子出现，而且还作为一种直接或间接参与某些病原体毒力的蛋白质出现。Zur的这一功能方面可用于寻找新的抗菌靶点。尽管对Zur进行了广泛的研究，但其整体调控子及其在各种病原体中的兼职功能仍有待探索。在这篇综述中，我们旨在总结不同细菌物种中Zur蛋白的不同功能方面。
