| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Intracellular zinc concentration and localization are strictly regulated by two main protein components, metallothioneins and membrane transporters. In mammalian cells, two membrane transporters family are involved in intracellular zinc homeostasis: the uptake transporters called <it>SLC39 </it>or Zip family and the efflux transporters called <it>SLC30 </it>or ZnT family. ZnT proteins are members of the cation diffusion facilitator (CDF) family of metal ion transporters.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From genomic databanks analysis, we identified the full-length sequences of two novel <it>SLC30 </it>genes, <it>SLC30A8 </it>and <it>SLC30A10</it>, extending the <it>SLC30 </it>family to ten members. We used an expressed sequence tag (EST) data mining strategy to determine the pattern of ZnT genes expression in tissues. <it>In silico </it>results obtained for already studied ZnT sequences were compared to experimental data, previously published. We determined an overall good correlation with expression pattern obtained by RT-PCR or immunomethods, particularly for highly tissue specific genes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The method presented herein provides a useful tool to complete gene families from sequencing programs and to produce preliminary expression data to select the proper biological samples for laboratory experimentation.</p>
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