Heteromeric protein complexes mediate zinc transport into the secretory pathway of eukaryotic cells.

The cation diffusion facilitator (CDF) family of metal ion transporters plays important roles in zinc transport at all phylogenetic levels. In this report, we describe a novel interaction between two members of the CDF family in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One CDF member in yeast, Msc2p, was shown recently to be involved in zinc transport into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and required for ER function.

Zinc and the Msc2 zinc transporter protein are required for endoplasmic reticulum function.

In this report, we show that zinc is required for endoplasmic reticulum function in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Zinc deficiency in this yeast induces the unfolded protein response (UPR), a system normally activated by unfolded ER proteins. Msc2, a member of the cation diffusion facilitator (CDF) family of metal ion transporters, was previously implicated in zinc homeostasis.