We have investigated the effect of Zn2+ on voltage-activated calcium currents of Aplysia neurons, using conventional two-electrode voltage-clamp techniques. The peak of these currents was reversibly reduced by Zn2+ (50% reduction at 3.75 mM; total block at 20 mM), while the current-voltage relation and the activation and inactivation curves were shifted to depolarized voltages. The effects of Z...

Metallothionein (MT) is a metal-binding protein rapidly accreted in many tissues in response to trace elements or hormones. To gain an understanding of the regulation of MT accretion, rates of MT synthesis and degradation were determined by using a decay-kinetics technique. A chicken macrophage-cell line (HD11) that rapidly accretes incremental amounts of MT when stimulated with increasing conc...

Micromolar concentrations of extracellular Zn2+ are known to antagonize native NMDA receptors via a dual mechanism involving both a voltage-independent and a voltage-dependent inhibition. We have tried to evaluate the relative importance of these two effects and their subunit specificity on recombinant NMDA receptors expressed in HEK 293 cells and Xenopus oocytes. The comparison of NR1a-NR2A an...

We have examined the actions of Zn2+ ions on Shaker K channels. We found that low (100 microM) concentrations of Zn2+ produced a substantial (approximately three-fold) slowing of the kinetics of macroscopic activation and inactivation. Channel deactivation was much less affected. These results were obtained in the presence of 5 mM Mg2+ and 4 mM Ca2+ in the external solution and so are unlikely ...

Nitric oxide (NO) and zinc (Zn2+) are implicated in the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia and neurodegenerative diseases. However, their relationship and the molecular mechanism of their neurotoxic effects remain unclear. Here we show that addition of exogenous NO or NMDA (to increase endogenous NO) leads to peroxynitrite (ONOO-) formation and consequent Zn2+ release from intracellular stores i...

Increasing interest is focused on the role of zinc in biological systems. A rapidly growing family of DNA-binding proteins contains "zinc-fingers", where zinc is bound to cysteine or histidine residues. On the other hand zinc is able to displace calcium from its binding sites and in this way it may modify calcium-mediated cellular processes. In the present report dissociation rates of Zn2(+)- a...

Transient receptor potential melastatin-related 2 (TRPM2) channel, a molecular sensor for reactive oxygen species (ROS), plays an important role in cognitive dysfunction associated with post-ischemia brain damage thought to result from ROS-induced TRPM2-dependent neuronal death during reperfusion. Emerging evidence further suggests that an alteration in the Zn2+ homeostasis is critical in ROS-i...

The kinetics of inactivation of the Zn2+-metalloenzyme acyl-amino acid amido hydrolase by chelating ligands were studied. The rate of inactivation by 1,10-phenanthroline is enhanced by histidine and inhibited in the presence of phenyl-alanine. Removal of the metal ion increases the heat stability and decreases the pH stability of the enzyme. Reactivation of the inactive metal free enzyme is pos...

Injection ofZn2+-adequate and Zn2+-deficient rats with Cu2+ stimulated the incorporation of L-[35S]cysteine into a low-molecular-weight Cu2+-binding protein in both liver and kidney. No significant incorporation of L-[4,5-3H]leucine into this protein occurred, confirming the previous claim that it was metallothionein and not some other leucine-rich protein. The half-life of the protein was foun...

The effect of Zn2+ on hemolysis induced by the thermostable direct hemolysin from Vibrio parahaemolyticus (vibriolysin) streptolysin O, and Triton X-100 was studied. We found that in certain buffers, such as tris(hydroxymethyl)-aminomethane-hydrochloride, boric acid-borax, and N-hydroxyethyl piperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid-sodium hydroxide, hemoglobins released from erythrocytes were easily...