Regulatory Role of Zinc in Immune Cell Signaling |
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| Authors: | Bonah Kim Won-Woo Lee |
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| Institution: | 1.Laboratory of Autoimmunity and Inflammation (LAI), Department of Biomedical Sciences, and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea ; 2.Cancer Research Institute, Ischemic/Hypoxic Disease Institute, and Institute of Infectious Diseases, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea ; 3.Seoul National University Hospital Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul 03080, Korea |
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| Abstract: | Zinc is an essential micronutrient with crucial roles in multiple facets of biological processes. Dysregulated zinc homeostasis impairs overall immune function and resultantly increases susceptibility to infection. Clinically, zinc supplementation is practiced for treatment of several infectious diseases, such as diarrhea and malaria. Recent focus on zinc as a beneficial element for immune system support has resulted in investigation of the immunomodulatory roles of zinc in a variety of immune cells. Besides its classical role as a cofactor that regulates the structural function of thousands of proteins, accumulating evidence suggests that zinc also acts, in a manner similar to calcium, as an ionic regulator of immune responses via participation as an intracellular messenger in signaling pathways. In this review, we focus on the role of zinc as a signaling molecule in major pathways such as those downstream of Toll-like receptors-, T cell receptor-, and cytokine-mediated signal transduction that regulate the activity and function of monocytes/macrophages and T cells, principal players in the innate and adaptive immune systems. |
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| Keywords: | monocytes/macrophages phosphatase signaling pathways T cell receptor T cells Toll-like receptors zinc zinc transporter |
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