Coordinate expression of amplified metallothionein I and II genes in cadmium-resistant Chinese hamster cells.

Recombinant DNA probes complementary to Chinese hamster metallothionein (MT)-1 and MT-2 mRNAs were used to compare MT gene copy numbers, zinc-induced MT mRNA levels, and uninduced MT mRNA levels in cadmium-resistant (Cdr) Chinese hamster ovary cell lines. Quantitative hybridization analyses determined that the MT-1 and MT-2 genes are each present at approximately single-copy levels in the genome of cell line Cdr2C10 and are coordinately amplified approximately 7, 3, and 12 times over the Cdr2C10 value in the genomes of cell lines Cdr20F4, Cdr30F9, and Cdr200T1, respectively. The maximum zinc-induced MT-1 mRNA concentrations in cell lines Cdr20F4, Cdr30F9, and Cdr200T1 were equal to 1, 3, and 15 times that measured in Cdr2C10, respectively. Similarly, the maximum zinc-induced MT-2 mRNA concentrations were equal to 1, 3, and 14 times that measured in Cdr2C10, respectively, and in each instance they were 90 to 150 times greater than their respective concentrations in uninduced cells. Thus, relative MT gene numbers are closely correlated with both zinc-induced and uninduced MT mRNA levels in Cdr2C10, Cdr30F9, and Cdr200T1, but not in Cdr20F4. Each of the latter two lines possesses structurally altered chromosomes whose breakpoints are near the MT locus. Nonetheless, the ratio of the levels of MT-1 to MT-2 mRNAs was constant in each of the four cell lines, including Cdr20F4. These results demonstrate that MT-1 and MT-2 mRNAs are induced coordinately in each Cdr cell line. Therefore, the coordination of the induction of MT-1 and MT-2 mRNA is independent of MT gene amplification, MT gene rearrangement, and the relative inducibilities of amplified MT genes. However, MT mRNA and protein levels each indicate that MT-1 and MT-2 expression is non-coordinate in uninduced cells. Thus, regulation of MT expression may involve two different mechanisms which are differentially operative in induced and uninduced cells.