Albumin-mediated extracellular zinc speciation drives cellular zinc uptake.
James P C CoverdaleHugo A van den BergSiavash KhazaipoulHannah E BridgewaterAlan J StewartClaudia A BlindauerPublished in: Chemical communications (Cambridge, England) (2022)
The role of the extracellular medium in influencing metal uptake into cells has not been described quantitatively. In a chemically-defined model system containing albumin, zinc influx into endothelial cells correlates with the extracellular free zinc concentration. Allosteric inhibition of zinc-binding to albumin by free fatty acids increased zinc flux.