Figures 5A,B showed that when STAT3 phosphorylation is inhibited by stattic, the expression of ZIP9 is also down-regulated. To test if cardiac zinc deficiency caused by ischemia/reperfusion can also provoke STAT3 activation and induce ZIP9 expression in vivo, mouse hearts were subjected to ischemia/reperfusion. Ischemia/reperfusion increased ZIP9 expression was reversed by stattic (Figure 5C), implying that zinc deficiency induced STAT3 activation leads to the upregulation of zinc importer ZIP9. Here, STAT3 is linked to ischemia.