This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (7) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Bressler, J. P Articles by Bannon, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bressler, J. P Articles by Bannon, D. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Metal transporters in intestine and brain: their involvement in metal-associated neurotoxicities

Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Kennedy-Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neurology, Kennedy-Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; bressler{at}kennedykrieger.org

Luisa Olivi

Kennedy-Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

Jae Hoon Cheong

School of Pharmacy, Sahmyook University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Yongbae Kim

Department of Preventive Medicine, Soonchunhyan University, Chunan City, Republic of Korea

Alex Maerten

Kennedy-Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

Desmond Bannon

US Army, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010, USA

The transport of essential metals and other nutrients across tightmembrane barriers such as the gastrointestinal tract and blood-brain barrier is mediated by specific transport mechanisms. Specific transporters take up metals at the apical surface and export them at the basolateral surface, and are involved in their intracellular distribution. Transporters for each of the major essential metals, calcium, iron and zinc, have been identified. These transporters also mediate the transport of non-essential metals across tight membrane barriers. For example, the intestinal iron transporter divalent metal transporter 1 mediates the uptake of lead and cadmium. The levels of essential metals are strictly regulated by transporters. When dietary levels of essential metals are low, levels of the corresponding transporters increase in the intestine, after which there is a greater potential for increased transport of toxic metals. In the brain, the strict regulation of metals prevents injury that potentially would result from oxidative damage induced by the essential metals iron, copper and zinc. Indeed, the oxidative damage found in neurodegenerative diseases is likely to be due to higher levels of these metals. Involvement of intracellular transporters for copper and zinc has been shown in animal models of Alzheimer's disease, raising the possibility that higher levels of iron, zinc and copper might be due to a disruption in the activity of transporters. Accordingly, exposure to toxicants that affect the activity of transporters potentially could contribute to the aetiology/progression of neurodegenerative diseases.

Key Words: brain • disease • intestine • metals • transporters

Human & Experimental Toxicology, Vol. 26, No. 3, 221-229 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0960327107070573


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. Kordas, B. Lonnerdal, and R. J. Stoltzfus Interactions between Nutrition and Environmental Exposures: Effects on Health Outcomes in Women and Children J. Nutr., December 1, 2007; 137(12): 2794 - 2797. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]