Abstract
Metallothionein (MT) isoforms I and II were first identified and characterized in our laboratories in several regions of brain, in hippocampal neurons in primary culture, and in retinoblastoma and neuroblastoma cell lines. In this study, by having employed the MT-I cDNA as a probe, we sought to gain additional insight about the function of MT by discerning the regional distribution of its mRNA. Northern blot analyses of brain mRNA revealed that the administration of zinc enhanced dramatically MT-I mRNA (570 bp). The in situ hybridization study revealed that MT-I mRNA was located in several areas of brain, with the highest concentrations found in the cerebellum, hippocampus, and ventricles. The results of these studies are interpreted to suggest that zinc enhances the synthesis of MT mRNA and MT in turn may participate in zinc associated functions in neurons.
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Abbreviations
- MT-I:
-
Metallothionein I isoform
- mRNA:
-
Messenger ribonucleic acid
- 35S dCTP:
-
35S Deoxycytidine triphosphate
- 32P dCTP:
-
32P Deoxycytidine triphosphate
- icv:
-
Intracerebroventricularly
- IP:
-
Intraperitoneally
- PBS:
-
Paraformaldehyde phosphate buffered saline solution
- Tris:
-
2 amino-2-hydroxymethylpropane-1,3 diol
- EDTA:
-
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
- cDNA:
-
Complimentary deoxyribonucleic acid
- bp:
-
Base pair
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Hao, R., Cerutis, D.R., Blaxall, H.S. et al. Distribution of zinc metallothionein I mRNA in rat brain using in situ hybridization. Neurochem Res 19, 761–767 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00967717
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00967717