Uptake of selenium-75 by human lymphocytes in vitro.

Selenite uptake by human lymphocytes was studied both in whole blood and in isolated cells. When 75Se-selenite (75Se-SeO3-2--) is supplied to whole blood, it is converted by the erythrocytes to a form which rapidly becomes bound to plasma proteins. Studies with a variety of inhibitors indicated that the process is not energy dependent but that sulfhydryl groups are required. The 75Se bound to plasma proteins is absorbed by lymphocytes in preference to 75SeO3-2-. By the use of selective inhibitors (respiratory, sulfhydryl, protein biosynthetic) it was demonstrated that the uptake of either form of 75Se requires neither energy nor protein synthesis; however, all the sulfhydryl inhibitors cause a decrease of absorption. A scheme which summarizes the pathway of selenite conversion in human blood and uptake by lymphocytes is presented; the data indicate that plasma proteins function as carriers of selenium to lymphocytes.