The binding of plutonium to transferrin in the presence of tri-n-butyl phosphate or nitrate and its release by diethylenetriaminepenta-acetate and the tetrameric catechoylamide ligand LICAMC(C).

The binding of plutonium to human apo-transferrin and to rat serum was investigated following delivery of the metal to the protein either as the plutonium-tri-n-butyl phosphate (Pu-TBP) complex in n-dodecane or as plutonium nitrate. Chromatographic behaviour, the failure to bind to iron-saturated transferrin and the release of plutonium by the chelating agents CaNa3DTPA and 3,4,3-LICAM(C) suggest that the transferrin complexes formed from the two plutonium compounds are similar. The tetracatechoylamide ligand LICAM(C) was found to be about 500 times more effective than DTPA, on a molar basis, for the release of plutonium from transferrin in rat serum.