Overview: The zinc-activated channel [ZAC, nomenclature as agreed by the NC-IUPHAR Subcommittee for the zinc activated channel (Hales and Peters 2009)] is a member of the Cys-loop family that includes the nicotinic acetylcholine, 5-HT3, GABAA and strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors (Davies et al., 2003; Houtani et al., 2005). The channel is likely to exist as a homopentamer of 4TM subunits that form an intrinsic cation-selective channel displaying constitutive activity that can be blocked by (+)-tubocurarine (Davies et al., 2003). ZAC is present in the human, chimpanzee, dog, cow and opossum genomes, but is functionally absent from mouse, or rat, genomes (Davies et al., 2003; Houtani et al., 2005).
| Nomenclature | ZAC |
|---|---|
| Ensembl ID | ENSG00000186919 |
| Selective agonists (pEC50) | Zn2+ (3.3) |
| Selective antagonists (pIC50) | (+)-Tubocurarine (5.2) |
| Functional characteristics | Outwardly rectifying current (both constitutive and evoked by Zn2+) |
References
- Davies PA, et al. J Biol Chem. 2003;278:712–717. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M208814200. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hales TG, Peters JA. http://www.iuphar-db.org/IC/FamilyIntroductionForward?familyId=6.
- Houtani T, et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2005;335:277–285. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.07.079. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]