Metallothionein 1H (MT1H)

Metallothionein 1H belongs to the metallothionein superfamily. Type 1 family. Metallothionein (MT) is a family of cysteine-rich, low molecular weight proteins. MTs have the capacity to bind both physiological and xenobiotic heavy metals through the thiol group of its cysteine residues, which represents nearly the 30% of its amino acidic residues.Metallothioneins have a high content of cysteine residues that bind various heavy metals; these proteins are transcriptionally regulated by both heavy metals and glucocorticoids.Class I metallothioneins contain 2 metal-binding domains: four divalent ions are chelated within cluster A of the alpha domain and are coordinated via cysteinyl thiolate bridges to 11 cysteine ligands. Cluster B, the corresponding region within the beta domain, can ligate three divalent ions to 9 cysteines.