Protein Facility, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
Department of Geriatrics, the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
Protein J. 2021 Oct;40(5):776-785. doi: 10.1007/s10930-021-10008-7. Epub 2021 Jun 8.
The ZIP family transport zinc ions from the extracellular medium across the plasma membrane or from the intracellular compartments across endomembranes, which play fundamental roles in metal homeostasis and are broadly involved in physiological and pathological processes. Desulfovibrio is the predominant sulphate-reducing bacteria in human colonic microbiota, but also a potential choice for metal bioremediation. while, there are no published studies describing the zinc transporters from Desulfovibrio up to now. In this study, we obtained for the first time a heterologously expressed ZIP homolog from Desulfovibrio vulgaris, termed dvZip. The purified dvZip was reconstituted into proteoliposomes, and confirmed its zinc transport ability in vitro. By combining topology prediction, homology modeling and phylogenetic approaches, we also noticed that dvZip belongs to the GufA and probably have 8 transmembrane α-helical segments (TM 1-8) in which both termini are located on the extracellular, with TM2, 4, 5 and 7 create an inner bundle. We believe that purification and characterization of zinc (probably also cadmium) transporters from Desulfovibrio vulgaris such as dvZip could shed light on understanding of metal homeostasis of Desulfovibrio and provided protein products for future detailed function and structural studies.
ZIP 家族将锌离子从细胞外介质转运穿过质膜，或从细胞内隔室穿过内膜，这在金属动态平衡中发挥着基本作用，并广泛参与生理和病理过程。脱硫弧菌是人类结肠微生物群中主要的硫酸盐还原菌，但也是金属生物修复的潜在选择。然而，目前还没有描述脱硫弧菌锌转运蛋白的已发表研究。在这项研究中，我们首次从脱硫弧菌中获得了一个异源表达的 ZIP 同源物，称为 dvZip。纯化的 dvZip 被重构成蛋白脂质体，并在体外证实了其锌转运能力。通过结合拓扑预测、同源建模和系统发育方法，我们还注意到 dvZip 属于 GufA 家族，可能有 8 个跨膜α螺旋段（TM1-8），两端都位于细胞外，TM2、4、5 和 7 形成一个内部束。我们相信，从脱硫弧菌如 dvZip 中纯化和表征锌（可能还有镉）转运蛋白，可以深入了解脱硫弧菌的金属动态平衡，并为未来的详细功能和结构研究提供蛋白质产物。
