Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0848237 (acute stress)
 4,619 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Metallothionein (MT), a low molecular-weight, cysteine-rich, metal-binding protein, is induced by many environmental factors and a variety of stimuli. Bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) injection is experimentally used to produce acute stress and is an effective inducer of hepatic MT. However, the mechanism of LPS induction of MT is not known. In the present studies, we used two substrains of mice, differing in their production of cytokines after LPS administration, to test the hypothesis that MT induction by LPS is mediated through cytokines. Normal (C3Heb/FeJ) and low cytokine-producing (C3H/HeJ) mice were given various doses of LPS, interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), or tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and hepatic MT was determined 24 hr later by the Cd/hemoglobin assay. The low-cytokine-producing mice were much less responsive to the induction of MT by LPS (50 vs 150 micrograms MT/g liver after 1.0 mg LPS/kg, ip) than the normal mice, but were equally responsive to the induction of MT by IL-1 (0.03-1.0 microgram/mouse). IL-6 (0.5-5.0 micrograms/mouse), and TNF (0.005-0.5 microgram/mouse). All the cytokines produced a dose-dependent increase of hepatic MT levels in these two murine substrains (up to five- to sevenfold over controls). In conclusion, these data suggest that LPS induction of MT may be mediated through cytokines.
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PMID:Endotoxin induction of hepatic metallothionein is mediated through cytokines. 206 24

Metallothionein (MT) is a sulfhydryl-rich, metal-binding protein that provides protection against metal toxicity. MT is induced by acute stress, hormones, metals, and various organic compounds. Recently, arsenicals have also been shown to induce MT. However, the mechanism and character of MT induction by arsenicals is unknown. Therefore, the effect of various arsenic forms on the tissue concentration of MT was determined. Mice were injected sc with various doses of arsenite [As(III)], arsenate [As(V)], monomethylarsenate (MMAA), and dimethylarsenate (DMAA), and MT content in the liver was measured 24 hr later by the Cd-hemoglobin radioassay. As(III) is a potent hepatic MT inducer in that a 30-fold increase in MT was observed at the dose of 85 mumol/kg. In comparison, it took 3-, 50-, and 120-fold higher molar amounts of As(V), MMAA, and DMAA, respectively to produce a similar effect. MMAA produces the largest increase in hepatic MT (80-fold), followed by As(III) (30-fold), As(V) (25-fold), and DMAA (10-fold). However, none of the arsenicals induced MT in mouse primary hepatocyte cultures. Both MT-I and MT-II were coordinately induced by As(III), As(V), and MMAA. MT induction by As(III) was further characterized following sc administration of arsenite (85 mumol/kg). Hepatic MT induction peaked at 24 hr, and in addition to the liver, As(III) also increased MT in kidney, spleen, stomach, intestine, heart, and lung. MT-I mRNA increased 24-, 52-, and 11-fold at 3, 6, and 15 hr after As(III) administration. This induction profile is similar to that observed after Zn or Cd exposure.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Induction of metallothionein by arsenicals in mice. 844 90

Cadmium is a toxic pollutant that in recent decades has become more widespread in the environment due to anthropogenic activities, significantly increasing the risk of exposure. Concurrently, a continually growing body of research has begun to enumerate the harmful effects that this heavy metal has on human health. Consequently, additional research is required to better understand the mechanism and effects of cadmium at the molecular level. The main mechanism of cadmium toxicity is based on the indirect induction of severe oxidative stress, through several processes that unbalance the anti-oxidant cellular defence system, including the displacement of metals such as zinc from its native binding sites. Such mechanism was thought to alter the in vivo enzymatic activity of SOD1, one of the main antioxidant proteins of many tissues, including the central nervous system. SOD1 misfolding and aggregation is correlated with cytotoxicity in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We assessed the effect of cadmium on SOD1 folding and maturation pathway directly in human cells through in-cell NMR. Cadmium does not directly bind intracellular SOD1, instead causes the formation of its intramolecular disulfide bond in the zinc-bound form. Metallothionein overexpression is strongly induced by cadmium, reaching NMR-detectable levels. The intracellular availability of zinc modulates both SOD1 oxidation and metallothionein overexpression, strengthening the notion that zinc-loaded metallothioneins help maintaining the redox balance under cadmium-induced acute stress.
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PMID:Cadmium effects on superoxide dismutase 1 in human cells revealed by NMR. 3065 99