Study of zinc elemental distribution in mouse brain by SRXRF

In order to explore the function and interaction between the ZnT3 mRNA expression and elemental zinc distribution in mouse brain slice, zinc concentration and its distribution were determined by SRXRF and ZnT3 mRNA expression in organs was examined by RT-PCR method. The analysis results show that the zinc content is not evenly distributed. The zinc content in cerebral cortex and hippocampus is nearly 5—10 times higher than that in other positions. Correspondingly, ZnT3 mRNA in cerebral cortex, hippocampus and testis has higher abundance, but it can not be examined out in other organs. Furthermore, the results suggest that ZnT3 facilitates the accumulation of zinc in synaptic vesicles and may play important roles in the structuring of vesicular zinc pool.