Table 4.
Studies on the anticancer effect of metallothionein.
| Metallothionein Type | Type of Cancer | Effect | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metallothionein I-II | Feline injection site fibrosarcoma | The degree of metallothionein expression negatively correlates with the degree of inflammation and tumor grade | [9] |
| MT1M | Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma | Overexpression of MT1M altered cell morphology, induced apoptosis, decreased cell viability and epithelial-mesenchymal transition, up-regulated ROS levels, down-regulated SOD1 activity, and phosphorylated the SOD1 downstream pathway PI3K/AKT | [66] |
| MT1G and MT2A | Colorectal cancer | Synergizing with cannabidiol in the treatment of colorectal cancer | [67] |
| MT1E | Hepatocellular carcinoma | MT1E inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and induces apoptosis | [68] |
| MT1M | Gastric cancer | Inhibits proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer cells, promotes apoptosis, increases chemosensitivity to 5-fluorouracil, and inhibits stem cell production | [69] |
| MT1G | Hepatocellular carcinoma | Inhibition of proliferation, cloning, migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and mediation of the anticancer effect of sorafenib | [70] |
| MT-1 | Hepatocellular carcinoma | Suppression of MT-1 expression leads to proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells | [71] |
| MT2A | Colorectal cancer | Overexpression of MT2A suppresses proliferation and migration of colorectal cancer cells | [72] |
| MT1G | Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma | MT1G negatively regulates NF-κB signaling and limits activin A secretion | [73] |
| MT2A | Malignant pleural mesothelioma | Knockdown of MT2A expression enhances the apoptosis rate of malignant pleural mesothelioma cells under cisplatin effect | [75] |
| MT2A | Osteosarcoma | MT2A silencing elevates the sensitivity of osteosarcoma cell lines to multiple chemotherapeutic agents | [76] |
| Nuclear metallothionein | Ovarian cancer | CO treatment attenuates the expression of nuclear metallothionein in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines and enhances the sensitivity of cisplatin-resistant cell lines to cisplatin | [77] |