Zinc ions are essential cofactors of a wide range of enzymes, transcription factors, and other regulatory proteins. Moreover, zinc is also involved in cellular signaling and enzymes inhibition. Zinc dysregulation, deficiency, over-supply, and imbalance in zinc ion transporters regulation are connected with various diseases including cancer. A zinc ion pool is maintained by two types of proteins: (i) zinc-binding proteins, which act as a buffer and intracellular donors of zinc and (ii) zinc transporters responsible for zinc fluxes into/from cells and organelles. The decreased serum zinc ion levels have been identified in patients suffering from various cancer diseases, including head and neck tumors and breast, prostate, liver, and lung cancer. On the contrary, increased zinc ion levels have been found in breast cancer and other malignant tissues. Zinc metalloproteomes of a majority of tumors including brain ones are still not yet fully understood. Current knowledge show that zinc ion levels and detection of certain zinc-containing proteins may be utilized for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. In addition, these proteins can also be promising therapeutic targets. The aim of the present work is an overview of the importance of zinc ions, zinc transporters, and zinc-containing proteins in brain tumors, which are, after leukemia, the second most common type of childhood cancer and the second leading cause of death in children after accidents.

Central European Institute of Technology Brno University of Technology Purkynova 123 CZ 612 00 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Biochemistry Faculty of Science Charles University Albertov 2030 CZ 128 40 Prague 2 Czech Republic

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Mendel University in Brno Zemedelska 1 CZ 613 00 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology 2nd Faculty of Medicine University Hospital Motol Charles University 5 Uvalu 84 CZ 150 06 Prague 5 Czech Republic

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