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Zn- and Cu-thioneins: a functional classification for metallothioneins?

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Abstract

This report intends to provide the reader with a deeper insight in the chemical, and extensively biological, characteristics of the metallothionein (MT) system. We have devoted nearly 20 years to the study of MTs and this has allowed us to form what we believe is a more complete picture of this peculiar family of metalloproteins. At the beginning of the 1990s, the landscape of this field was quite different from the overall picture we have now. Many researchers have contributed to the readjustment of this part of scientific knowledge. In our case, we implemented a unified method for obtaining MTs, for characterizing their metal-binding features, and for applying a unified research rationale. All this has helped to enlarge the initial picture that was mainly dominated by mammalian MT1/MT2 and yeast Cup1, by introducing approximately 20 new MTs. It has also allowed some characteristics to be clarified and examined in more detail, such as the cooperativity or the coexistence of multiple species in the metal-substitution reactions, the availability of Ag(I) or Cd(II) for use as respective probes for the Cu(I) and Zn(II) binding sites, the participation of chloride or sulfide ligands in the metal coordination spheres, and the feasibility of using in vitro data as representative of in vivo scenarios. Overall, the results yield enough data to consider new criteria for a proposal of classification of MTs based on MT metal-binding features, which complements the previous classifications, and that can shed light on the still controversial physiological functions of this peculiar superfamily of metalloproteins.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación for its continued financial support, and particularly for the current projects BIO2009-12513-C02-01 to S.A. and BIO2009-12513-C02-02 to M.C. The authors are members of the Grup de Recerca de la Generalitat de Catalunya, reference 2009SGR-1457, and the COST Action (EU) CM0603 on Free Radicals in Chemical Biology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament de Química, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Barcelona, Spain

    Òscar Palacios & Mercè Capdevila

  2. Departament de Genètica, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 645, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Sílvia Atrian

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  1. Òscar Palacios
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  2. Sílvia Atrian
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Correspondence to Mercè Capdevila.

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This article is part of a JBIC special issue on metallothioneins.

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Palacios, Ò., Atrian, S. & Capdevila, M. Zn- and Cu-thioneins: a functional classification for metallothioneins?. J Biol Inorg Chem 16, 991–1009 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00775-011-0827-2

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