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Metallothionein: Historical Review and Perspectives

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Metallothionein

Part of the book series: Experientia Supplementum ((EXS,volume 34))

Abstract

The detection, isolation and characterization of metallothionein is interwoven inextricably with the search for a biological role and function of cadmium: The discovery of metallothionein is the direct consequence of an inductive search for a biological role of that element. In 1941, D.P. Maliuga was the first to determine cadmium quantitatively in natural products. His publication carried the title: “Cadmium and Organisms”, and appeared in Doklady Akad. Nauk. U.S.S.R., (the official Journal of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R.) 31, 145–147, No. 2, 1941; it was abstracted briefly in Chemical Abstracts 37.1, 894, 1943. He performed cadmium analyses polaro-graphically and validated the procedure colorimetrically by means of the dithizone procedure. Maliuga analyzed a wide variety of biological materials, among them the bark of the Aspen tree (1.6 × 10-4% dry weight) and a number of algae and certain aquatic species (Table I). In the latter a constant Cd/Zn = 1/20 ratio was found.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biophysics Research Laboratory, Department of Biological Chemistry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Bert L. Vallee

  2. Division of Medical Biology, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Bert L. Vallee

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  1. Bert L. Vallee
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Jeremias H. R. Kägi Monica Nordberg

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© 1979 Springer Basel AG

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Vallee, B.L. (1979). Metallothionein: Historical Review and Perspectives. In: Kägi, J.H.R., Nordberg, M. (eds) Metallothionein. Experientia Supplementum, vol 34. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-6493-0_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-6493-0_1

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-0348-6494-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-6493-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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