title: Structure and expression of the human metallothionein genes.
abstract: The human metallothioneins are represented by a multigene family consisting of about 14 members. A number of MT-like genes have been isolated from a human genomic library and in this report, four MT genes have been characterized. Our results show that two of these genes represent the MT-I and MT-II processed genes. The other two genes (MT-IF and MT-IG) are functional members of the MT-I gene family. The amino acid sequence encoded by the MT-IF and MT-IG genes differ from the amino acid sequences of the published MT-I proteins at few positions. The 5'-flanking region of these genes contain metal responsive elements. Our studies show that the MT-IF and MT-IG genes are differentially regulated in two human hepatoma cell lines, HepG2 and Hep3B2, and a human lymphoblastoid cell line, WI-L2 in response to the heavy metals cadmium, zinc and copper, and glucocorticoids. In addition, these genes also show cell-type specific expression.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002104:Cadmium / Q000494:pharmacology; D002460:Cell Line; D003300:Copper / Q000494:pharmacology; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D008668:Metallothionein / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D015032:Zinc / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D002104:Cadmium; D012313:RNA; D003300:Copper; D004247:DNA; D008668:Metallothionein; D015032:Zinc