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Mammalian metallothioneins (MTs) are small, metal binding proteins implicated in cellular metal ion homeostasis and heavy metal detoxification. Divalent, metal-saturated MTs form two distinct domains; the N-terminal β domain binds three metals using nine Cys residues, and the C-terminal α domain binds four metals with 11 Cys residues. Domain selection during zinc binding and cadmium exchange to human MT1A was examined using a series of competition reactions with mixtures of the isolated domain fragments. These experiments were conducted at two biologically significant pH conditions where MTs exist in vivo. Neither zinc binding nor cadmium exchange showed any significant degree of specificity or selectivity based on detailed analysis of electrospray ionization mass spectrometric and circular dichroic data. Under acidic conditions, zinc binding and cadmium exchange showed slight α domain …