Metal-binding capacity of metallothioneins of the liver of rats poisoned with heavy metals
B. O. Tsudzevich, I. V. Kalinin
Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, Ukraine;
е-mail: ikalin@rambler.ru
The functioning of metallothioneins in the liver of rats, poisoned with copper sulfate and cadmium sulfate has been investigated. By sequential chromatography on sephadex G-50 and DEAE-cellulose the authors obtained metallothioneins (MT-1, MT-1A, MT-2, MT-2a), which differ in molecular weight and composition of associated metals. Heavy metal poisoning leads to activation of synthesis and metal-binding function of metallothioneins, as well as to changes in the composition of their isoforms.
Keywords: cadmium, copper, isoforms of metallothioneins, liver, metallothioneins, rats, zinc
