title: The taste of heavy metals: gene regulation by MTF-1.
abstract: The metal-responsive transcription factor-1 (MTF-1, also termed MRE-binding transcription factor-1 or metal regulatory transcription factor-1) is a pluripotent transcriptional regulator involved in cellular adaptation to various stress conditions, primarily exposure to heavy metals but also to hypoxia or oxidative stress. MTF-1 is evolutionarily conserved from insects to humans and is the main activator of metallothionein genes, which encode small cysteine-rich proteins that can scavenge toxic heavy metals and free radicals. MTF-1 has been suggested to act as an intracellular metal sensor but evidence for direct metal sensing was scarce. Here we review recent advances in our understanding of MTF-1 regulation with a focus on the mechanism underlying heavy metal responsiveness and transcriptional activation mediated by mammalian or Drosophila MTF-1. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cell Biology of Metals.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Viola
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Günther
authors.forename: Uschi
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lindert
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schaffner
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000378:metabolism; D008668:Metallothionein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D000097809:Transcription Factor MTF-1
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D008668:Metallothionein; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000097809:Transcription Factor MTF-1