The synthesis of metallothionein-like protein containing zinc in liver of rat after administration of calcium and calcitonin.

Subcutaneous (s.c.) and intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection and oral administration of calcium (Ca) into rats increased Ca content of liver compared with control rats. When liver cytosol was filtered through a Sephadex G-75 column, zinc (Zn) content of metallothionein (MT)-like protein fraction was several times higher in Ca treatment than in control. Zn and copper (Cu) content of high-molecular (HM) and moderate-molecular (MM) fractions and Cu content of MT fraction was unaffected by Ca treatment. Zn in MT fraction showed two peaks in the direct-connection method of high-performance liquid chromatography to atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The retention time of these two peaks agreed with those of Zn or cadmium (Cd) in MT fraction of liver cytosol obtained from Zn- or Cd-administered rat. These results show that MT-like protein containing Zn is induced by Ca. In conditions showing a slight increase in liver Ca and a significant decrease in serum Ca by synthetic [Asu1,7] eel calcitonin (CT) injection, gel filtration of liver cytosol obtained from CT-treated rats showed a higher content of Zn and a higher radioactivity of [3H]cystine than that from control injection. This suggests that CT causes an increase in liver Ca and results in induction of MT-like protein containing Zn by Ca.