title: Radiation exposure does not alter metallothionein III isoform expression in mouse brain.
abstract: The level of metallothionein III mRNA and protein, a brain-specific isoform of metallothionein (MT), was investigated in the brain of MT-I and -II gene knockout (MT-null) mice exposed to 20 Gy whole-body gamma-irradiation. Because MT-null mice did not express MT-I or MT-II isoforms, the total brain MT content in these mice represented the isoform MT-III only. MT-III protein content was determined by a cadmium-binding assay, and the MT mRNA level was measured by reverse transcription followed by polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Both MT-III protein content and mRNA expression in the brains of MT-null mice were not affected by exposure to whole-body irradiation. These results indicate that mouse brain MT-III expression is not induced by ionizing radiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Western Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koropatnick
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Cherian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002104:Cadmium / Q000378:metabolism; D002106:Cadmium Radioisotopes; D017931:DNA Primers; D005720:Gamma Rays; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases / Q000378:metabolism; D007536:Isomerism; D008297:Male; D000090023:Metallothionein 3; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D002106:Cadmium Radioisotopes; D017931:DNA Primers; D000090023:Metallothionein 3; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D002104:Cadmium; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases