Metallothioneins Metallothioneins (MT) are low molecular weight, cysteine-rich, metal-binding prot eins. An MT molecule contains two domains which appear to act independently. The alpha-domain refes to bind hea vy metals such as cadmium, mercury, platinum, etc, while the beta-domain binds preferentially to zinc and cop per. There are four types of MTs named MT1, MT2, MT3 and MT4.
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