Molecular map provides clues to zinc-related diseases

Mapping the molecular structure where medicine goes to work is a crucial step toward drug discovery against deadly diseases. Researchers have taken that critical first step by providing a crystal structure of the extracellular domain, or ECD, of ZIP4 -- the exclusive protein responsible for the uptake of zinc from food. The ZIP family consists of thousands of zinc/iron transporter proteins, and this work represents the first-ever structural information of the ZIP family at the atomic level.