Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 14, 2026

In Vivo Functional Study of Disease-associated Rare Human Variants Using Drosophila
Published on: August 20, 2019
ZIP13: A Study of Drosophila Offers an Alternative Explanation for the Corresponding Human Disease
1School of Food Science and Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China.
Abstract:
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has become an important model organism to investigate metal homeostasis and human diseases. Previously we identified dZIP13 (CG7816), a member of the ZIP transporter family (SLC39A) and presumably a zinc importer, is in fact physiologically primarily responsible to move iron from the cytosol into the secretory compartments in the fly. This review will discuss the implication of this finding for the etiology of Spondylocheirodysplasia-Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (SCD-EDS), a human disease defective in ZIP13. We propose an entirely different model in that lack of iron in the secretory compartment may underlie SCD-EDS. Altogether three different working models are discussed, supported by relevant findings made in different studies, with uncertainties, and questions remained to be solved. We speculate that the distinct ZIP13 sequence features, different from those of all other ZIP family members, may confer it special transport properties.
Related Concept Videos
Alternative RNA Splicing
There are five types of alternative RNA splicing that vary in the ways the pre-mRNA segments are removed or retained in the mature mRNA. The first...
Alternative RNA Splicing
Null and Alternative Hypotheses
The null hypothesis, denoted by H0 is a statement of no difference between the variables—they are not related. This can often be considered the status quo. As a result if you cannot accept the null, it requires some action.
The alternative hypothesis, denoted by H1 or Ha, is a claim about the...
Electric Generator: Alternator
The magnetic flux passing through the coil varies sinusoidally as the loop rotates inside the magnetic field. This...
Alternative Sets of Equilibrium Equations
One example of such a situation can be observed in a...
Area Computation by the Alternative Coordinate Method

