Review
Copyright ©2007 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 21, 2007; 13(7): 993-996
Published online Feb 21, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i7.993
Metallothionein: An overview
N Thirumoorthy, KT Manisenthil Kumar, A Shyam Sundar, L Panayappan, Malay Chatterjee
N Thirumoorthy, College of Pharmacy, Kovai Estate, Kalapatti Road, Tamilnadu, India
KT Manisenthil Kumar, A Shyam Sundar, L Panayappan, Malay Chatterjee, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: N Thirumoorthy, KMCH, College of Pharmacy, Kovai Estate, Kalapatti Road, Coimbatore 641 035, Tamilnadu, India. tmoorthyn@yahoo.com
Telephone: +91-98-43255552 Fax: +91-422-2628645
Received: July 27, 2006
Revised: December 15, 2006
Accepted: January 10, 2007
Published online: February 21, 2007
Abstract

Metallothioneins (MTs) were discovered in 1957 by Margoshes and Vallee and identified as low-molecular weight and sulphydryl rich proteins. It is not surprising that most mammalian tissues contain age related basal levels of MTs since they are involved in metalloregulatory processes that include cell growth and multiplication. In an effort to understand the biology of this intriguing tumor, various biomarkers such as oncogenes, p53 tumor suppressor gene, waf 1 protein, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, telomerase, microsatellite markers and cytogenetic changes have been examined. One biomarker which has recently shown to be expressed in various human tumors but still less reported in carcinoma is MT. Immunohistochemical detection of MT proteins in cold acetone-fixed paraffin embedded liver sections was performed by the streptavidin-avidin-biotin immuno-peroxidase complex method.

Keywords: Metallothioneins; Protective function; Immuno-histochemical detection; Anti-oxidant character; Metal regulatory gene; Oncogene; Apoptosis; Genotoxic; Non-genotoxic environment; Detoxification