Zinc functions as a cofactor for numerous enzymes, nuclear factors, and hormones and as an intra- and intercellular signal ion. Members of the zinc transporter (ZNT)/SLC30 subfamily of the cation diffusion facilitator family, such as SLC30A10, permit cellular efflux of zinc.

By searching databases with ZNT sequences, Seve et al. (2004) identified SLC30A10, which they called ZNT10. The deduced protein has a calculated molecular mass of 52.7 kD. It has 6 transmembrane helices, a basic region between helices 4 and 5, and cytoplasmic N and C termini. EST database analysis showed evidence of SLC30A10 expression only in fetal brain and fetal liver.Seve et al. (2004) determined that the SLC30A10 gene contains 4 exons and spans 15 kb.