Recent findings in the past two decades have brought many insights into the biology of thyroid benign and malignant lesions, in particular the papillary and follicular thyroid cancers. Although, much progress have been made, thyroid cancers still pose diagnostic problems regarding differentiation of follicular lesions in relation to their aggressiveness and the treatment of advanced and undiffe...

Metallothioneins (MTs) were characterised in the kidneys of a white-sided dolphin Lagenorhynchus acutus stranded along the Belgian coast, displaying high levels of cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg) in liver and kidney. The protein has two isoforms: MT-1 and MT-2. MT-1 binds Cu, Zn, Hg and Cd, while MT-2 only binds Zn, Hg and Cd. This suggests different metabolic functions for the two isoforms: MT-1...

The alterations to the expressions of metal transporter genes can induce ion uptake maintain cell homeostasis when concentrations are low. Metallothioneins (MTs) a class low molecular mass (4-8 kDa), cysteine (Cys)-rich proteins that bind metals via thiol groups their Cys residues. Studies on MT gene in higher plants, such as conifers, limited. White spruce (Picea glauca) is North American nati...

Neurotoxicity induced by methylmercury (MeHg) increases the formation of reactive radicals and accelerates free radical reactions. This review summarizes recent findings in the MeHg-induced formation of free radicals and the role of oxidative stress in its neurotoxicity. Oxidative stress on CNS can produce damage by several interacting mechanisms, including mitochondrial damage with increase in...

We have previously isolated a developmentally regulated novel gene, priA, from the basidiomycete Lentinus edodes. The deduced PRIA protein contains the two set of motifs similar to a 'zinc finger' typified by transcription factor TFIIIA and the motif of a 'zinc cluster' observed in metallothioneins. It also contains a hydrophobic N-terminal sequence. Here Escherichia coli cells producing PRIA w...

Background: Metallothionein (MT) is a multifunctional protein playing important roles in homeostatic regulation and detoxification of metals. Mollusk species have been considered as useful sentinel platforms for MT-based biomarker approaches, and they have been reported to display an extraordinary structural diversity of MT proteins. However, potential diversity of molluskan MTs has not been fu...

MTs are small cysteine-rich metal-binding proteins found in many species and, although there are differences between them, it is of note that they have a great deal of sequence and structural homology. Mammalian MTs are 61 or 62 amino acid polypeptides containing 20 conserved cysteine residues that underpin the binding of metals. The existence of MT across species is indicative of its biologica...