Metallothionein (MT) is a low molecular weight cysteine-rich protein with a number of roles in the pro/antioxidant balance and homeostasis of essential metals, such as zinc and copper, and in the detoxification of heavy metals, such as cadmium and mercury. Until now, detection of metallothionein in biological fluids remained difficult because of a lack of a broadly reactive commercial test. Mea...

of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science THE ROLES OF ZINC AND METALLOTHIONEIN IN HEPATOCYTE ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE By Louis Lichten August 2004 Chair: Robert Cousins Major Department: Food Science and Human Nutrition Zinc and metallothionein are involved in cellular antioxidant defense, b...

Proteins rich in sulfhydryl groups, such as metallothionein, are present in several strains of the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas' disease. Metallothionein-like protein concentrations ranged from 5.1 to 13.2 pmol/mg protein depending on the parasite strain and growth phase. Nifurtimox and benznidazole, used in the treatment of Chagas' disease, decreased metallothion...

Metallothionein is a copper- and zinc-binding protein present in most, if not all, tissues of higher eukaryotic species of animals. This review focuses on what is currently known about the characteristics, detection, occurrence, synthesis and turnover of metallothionein, specifically in livestock animals. The function of metallothionein in copper and zinc metabolism, though widely acknowledged,...

metallothionein (mt) manifests varying expression levels in carcinomas, and they may be considered as valuable cell cancerization biomarkers for diagnosis of patients with cancers. a meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate comprehensively the mt expression difference in various benign tumors and malignant tumors, which compared the high with low mt expression levels in patients of the available...

The distribution of a heavy metal binding protein, metallothionein, was studied immunocytochemically by using antimetallothionein antibody and the immunoperoxidase staining technique on histological sections of liver, kidney, intestine, lung, and testis from cadmium-treated rats. These tissues either accumulate heavy metals (e.g., liver, kidney, and testis) or are exposed to metal by ingestion ...

From a cDNA clone bank prepared from cadmium-treated HeLa cells, we isolated clones representing mRNAs whose concentration is increased after cadmium induction. Several metallothionein cDNA clones were isolated by cross-hybridization to mouse metallothionein-I cDNA. The nucleotide sequence of one of these clones, containing a nearly full-length cDNA copy of human metallothionein-II mRNA, was de...

The yield of the alpha-fragment of rabbit liver metallothionein 2 was used to test the domain-specificity and mobility of Cd2+ and Zn2+ when bound to metallothionein. Increasing molar ratios of Cd2+ were added to either Zn7-metallothionein or the metal-ion-free apo-metallothionein. The enzyme subtilisin was used to digest those parts of the peptide chain that were not bound to Cd2+. Analysis of...

The characterization of metallothionein in the Urodele amphibian species Pleurodeles waltl was achieved. A simple and rapid method for identification of metallothionein, based on its strong affinity for cadmium (109Cd), was used. We were able to show that metallothionein is constitutively synthesized in liver, ovary and brain. The property of metallothionein to strongly bind essential (Zn, Cu) ...