Cloning, characterization and cadmium inducibility of metallothionein in the testes of the mudskipper Boleophthalmus pectinirostris

Five metal elements homeostasis-related genes in Synechogobius hasta: Molecular characterization, tissue expression and transcriptional response to Cu and Fe exposure

“…These cysteine clusters may show a strong affinity to metal ions (Kagi and Schaffer, 1988;Viarengo and Nott, 1993) and serve as primary chelation sites (Kagi and Schaffer, 1988). We also found that MT consisted of 60 amino acids with 20 Cys and 6 Lys, in agreement with the report by Han et al (2015). Since the Lys residue was close to Cys in the sequence, the Lys probably stabilized the interaction between MT and metal ions (Cody and Huang, 1994).…”

“…Since the Lys residue was close to Cys in the sequence, the Lys probably stabilized the interaction between MT and metal ions (Cody and Huang, 1994). Phylogenetic analysis suggested that S. hasta CTR1, CTR2, DMT1, MT1 and MT2 peptides were closely related to other fish, which is in agreement with taxonomic classes, similar to other reports (Knapen et al, 2005;Minghetti et al, 2008;Gao et al, 2009;Han et al, 2015).…”

“…The present study indicated that the mRNA expressions of MT1 and MT2 were the highest in the liver, followed by brain, but not significantly different among other tested tissues. Han et al (2015) reported that MT was highly expressed in the liver and moderately in the kidney and spleen, with low expression in the testis and muscle in Boleophthalmus pectinirostris. Gonzalez et al (2006) reported the MT2 gene was predominantly expressed in the liver than in the brain, gill, and muscle.…”

“…Metallothioneins (MTs) are a group of low molecular mass protein with strong metal-binding abilities because of their rich cysteine content, which play essential biological roles in metal ion homeostasis, detoxification and cytoprotection (Kagi and Schaffer, 1988;Suzuki, 1993). The cDNA sequences of MT genes have been cloned in several fish species, such as zebrafish (Gonzalez et al, 2006), Siniperca chuatsi (Gao et al, 2009), Gobio gobio (Knapen et al, 2005), common carp (Cyprinus carpio) (Hermesz et al, 2001), icefish (Chionodraco hamatus) (Scudiero et al, 2001), pike (Esox lucius) (Kille et al, 1993) and mudskipper (Boleophthalmus pectinirostris) (Han et al, 2015), and its tissue expression profile has been explored by Han et al, 2015. However, in fish, studies are very scarce on their transcriptional responses to metal elements (Craig et al, 2009;Komjarova and Bury, 2014;Minghetti et al, 2008).…”

Short-term cadmium exposure induces stress responses in frog (Pelophylax bergeri) skin organ culture

“…Since it was previously observed that a down-regulation occurs after MT induction events, it will be interesting to investigate Mt expression in P. bergeri skin treated with Cd for a longer period of time (Cho et al, 2008;Huang et al, 2014). The transcriptional activation of Mt gene in Cd-treated skin organ culture, revealed that frog skin, like other tissues and organs of different organisms, displays a stress response (Choi et al, 2008;Espinoza et al, 2012;Xiang et al, 2013;Han et al, 2015;Tan et al, 2014) and indicates that in amphibians this organ is the primary line of defense against the entry of Cd. MTs, in fact, provide high affinity binding sites for Cd, which reduce intracellular free Cd and limit cellular and tissue damage.…”