Achievement

In the previous reporting period we had defined that zinc, the second most abundant element in the brain, interacts with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), and that interaction results in the neutralization of both zinc’s and tPA’s neurotoxicity, and moreover we reported that zinc is sequestered into neuronal cells. Trainee Jaime Emmetsberger in Dr. Tsirka’s lab continued the work to determine the molecular players that mediate zinc sequestration. She identified that tPA physically interacts with the zinc transporter ZIP4. The interaction brings zinc into the neurons, modifies the actin cytoskeleton of the cells and places into lysosomes. This work was just submitted for publication.