Mutations in the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene cause one form of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive disorder of motor neurons leading to weakness and death of affected individuals. Experiments using both transgenic mice expressing mutant SOD1 and SOD1 knock-out mice have demonstrated that disease is caused by a toxic gain of function and not by a loss of normal SOD1 ...

Metallothioneins are small cysteine-rich proteins coordinating various transition metal ions preferably with the electron configuration d(10). They are ubiquitously present in all phyla, and next to phytochelatins they represent a successful molecular concept for high-capacity metal ion binding. Recent studies showed the incorporation of sulfide ions into the metal-thiolate cluster of metalloth...

Metallothioneins are ubiquitous, small, cysteine-rich proteins with the ability to bind heavy metals. In spite of their biochemical characterization, their in vivo function remains elusive. Here, we report the generation of a metallothionein gene family knockout in Drosophila melanogaster by targeted disruption of all four genes (MtnA to -D). These flies are viable if raised in standard laborat...

Metallothioneins are small proteins (6,000 to 10,000 mw) with similar amino acid compositions, high content of sulfhydryl amino acids and no aromatic amino acids. Emax at 250 nm is due to cadmium mercaptide bond. Synthesis is induced by a number of metals including zinc, cadmium, mercury, copper, bismuth, gold and silver. These proteins function as a mechanism of intracellular storage of some e...

BACKGROUND Thiol-rich peptides and proteins possess a large number of biological activities and may serve as markers for numerous health problems including cancer. Metallothionein (MT), a small molecular mass protein rich in cysteine, may be considered as one of the promising tumour markers. The aim of this paper was to employ chronopotentiometric stripping analysis (CPSA) for highly sensitive ...

Microalgae are one of the most important organisms in our ecosystems being seriously affected by metal pollution. However, the microalgae Tetraselmis suecica (Kylin) Butch is tolerant to cadmium; the concentration of this metal that reduces the population growth to 50% of the control growth level is 5.8 mg/L after 96 h of exposure. In this study, class III metallothioneins were investigated for...

Metallothioneins take part in the homeostasis of the ions of the metals which are necessary for the proper metabolism of the organism (zinc, copper), in biosynthesis regulation of the zinc-containing proteins and also in the detoxication of metals from the tissues. They also protect the tissue from the effects of free radicals, radiation, electrophilic pharmacological agents used in the cancer ...