Polymerization of metallothioneins is one of the usually encountered puzzles during the research process of metallothioneins' structure and function. Our work focuses on the cysteine independently occurred polymerization from metallothioneins monomers in different milieus, while it leaves out the aggregation caused by the oxidation of cysteine, because the latter circumstance is the result of p...

Metallothionein are small, cysteine-rich, metal-binding proteins that are found ubiquitously in nature. Most metallothioneins bind multiple metals in two well-defined metal-thiolate clusters. This perspective discusses the use of optical spectroscopy to study the metalation of metallothioneins and the emergence of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry as a means of studying the mechanism of...

The study of metal concentrations in Patella vulgata caught from a polluted environment reveals a direct relationship between Cd concentration and body size and an inverse relationship in regard to Zn and Cu. Most of the Cd present in limpets with heavy Cd loads is bound to thioneins, but this is not the case for Zn and Cu. In young limpets, Cd-thioneins were not detected. All results indicate ...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have provided some evidence of a possible association between cancer and metallothioneins. Whether this relates to an exposure to carcinogenic metals remains unclear. METHODS In order to examine the association between the expression of metallothioneins and bladder tumors, and to compare the levels of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and nickel in animals with blad...