title: Drosophila MTN: a metazoan copper-thionein related to fungal forms.
abstract: Two Drosophila metallothioneins (MT) have been reported: MTN, a 40 residue peptide including 10 Cys, and MTO, a 43 residue peptide including 12 Cys. However, neither functional nor evolutionary analyses for either of the Drosophila MT are available. Here, heterologous expression of Mtn in Escherichia coli is reported. The metal binding abilities of the Cu- and Zn-MTN complexes conformed in vivo, as well as the features of the Cd- and Cu-aggregates produced by metal replacement in vitro, have been determined by atomic emission spectrometry, circular dichroism and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Primary structure relationships with other MT have been examined. The results indicate a close resemblance of MTN to fungal copper-thioneins.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Genètica, Facultat de Biologia, Av Diagonal 645, Universitat de Barcelona, E-08028, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valls
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bofill
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Romero-Isart
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gonzàlez-Duarte
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abián
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carrascal
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gonzàlez-Duarte
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Capdevila
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Atrian
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry; D004330:Drosophila; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D008668:Metallothionein / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; C007121:copper thionein; D003300:Copper; D008668:Metallothionein