Turnover rate of metallothionein and cadmium inMytilus edulis

✍ Scribed by M. J. Bebianno; W. J. Langston

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 451 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1572-8773
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00187762

✦ Synopsis

The results demonstrate the first attempt to determine metallothionein turnover in the whole soft tissues of mussels Mytilus edulis exposed to cadmium. Half-lives for metallothionein and cadmium are 25 and 300 days, respectively. As metallothionein degrades the released cadmium induces further synthesis of the protein, to which the metal becomes resequestered. The slow metailothionein turnover rates (compared with mammals) and the lack of significant cadmium excretion testify to the relatively stable nature of the cadmium-metallothionein complex in these invertebrates and supports the view of a detoxifying role for metailothionein in the mussels.