STAT3 and Zinc deficiency: 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.