Abstract
Sheep metallothionein-III (MT-III) cDNA was isolated from a brain cDNA library and characterized. In contrast with MT-III from other species, sheep MT-III cDNA is predicted to encode a protein with significantly different metal-binding properties, owing to the loss of three of its cysteine residues. RT-PCR from other sheep confirmed that this aberrant structure is ubiquitous in this species. MT-III was successfully isolated from sheep brain, demonstrating that the cDNA does give rise to a protein product of the predicted structure. Sheep MT-III is similar to other mammalian MT-IIIs in that it retains the Cys-Pro-Cys-Pro motif which is thought to encode growth-inhibitory activity, and we show that it is likewise able to inhibit neuron survival in vitro. This is the first naturally occurring variant of MT-III (or any other major mammalian MT gene) which gives rise to a protein product. These findings are discussed in light of proposed roles of MT in the mammalian brain.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 323-328 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Biochemical Journal |
Volume | 365 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2002 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Corrigendum can be found in Biochemical journal, 365(3), p.903, 2002.https://doi.org/10.1042/bj3650903v