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. 2020 Apr 10;43(4):323–330. doi: 10.14348/molcells.2020.0026

Fig. 1. The structures of zinc transporters.

Fig. 1

(A) Structural model of ZIP. The ZIP protein family is composed of 8 transmembrane domains (TM), with the N- and C-termini facing the extracellular/luminal space. A proline-alanine-leucine (PAL) motif is conserved in each N-terminus, while a cytoplasmic domain (CTD) and a histidine-rich domain is common to TM3 and TM4. Zinc binds to TM4 and TM5 through the HNXXD motif in TM4 and the HEXXH motif in TM5. (B) Structural model of ZnT. The ZnT protein family is composed of 6 TMs. A histidine-rich domain is common to present between TM4 and TM5, with a CTD in the C-terminus. TM2 and TM5 share the zinc binding site through their HXXXD motifs.