Our research interest focuses on the organization and regulation of stress inducible genes and their gene products. More specifically, studies involve a family of proteins named metallothionein, which bind transition metals avidly. Metallothionein encoding genes are inducible by metals and other stress conditions. Thus this family of proteins may have a role in metal homeostasis and detoxification. The approaches used in our studies thus encompass the use of recombinant DNA technology, cloning and site-directed mutagenesis techniques, protein engineering methodology, molecular simulation and computational biology. Major recent findings include the isolation and characterization of metallothionein genes from rice, Arabidopsis, and procine. Other accomplishments centered around the elucidation of metal binding preference by sequence motifs through mutagenesis using transgenic systems and in silico. (Dr. Huang no longer accepts graduate students.) - Hsieh, H.M., Liu, W.K., Chang, A. and Huang, P.C. (1996) RNA expression patterns of a type 2 metallothionein-like gene from rice. Plant Mol.Biol. 32:525-429.
- Chang, C.C. and Huang, P.C. (1997) Cysteine contributions to metal binding preference for Zn/Cd in the beta-domain of metallothionein. Protein Engineering 11:41-46.
- Huang, M.C., Pan, P.K., Zheng, Z.F., Chen, N.C., Peng, J.Y. and Huang, P.C. (1998) Multiple isoforms of metallothionein are expressed in the poorcine liver. Gene 211:49-55.
- Pan, P.K., Tseng, T.F., Lyu, P.C. and Huang, P.C. (1999) Why reversing the sequence of the alpha domain of human metallothionein-2 does not change its metal-binding and folding characteristics. European J Biochemistry 265:1-8.
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