Sakurai H, Nakajima K, Kamada H, Satoh H, Otaki N, Kimura M, Kawano K, Hagino T
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Kyoto Pharmaceutical University, Japan.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1993 Apr 30;192(2):893-8. doi: 10.1006/bbrc.1993.1499.
Distribution of metallothionein (MT) and copper ion (Cu) in the liver of LEC (Long-Evans Cinnamon) rats was investigated to examine the relationship between Cu-MT induction and the development of hepatitis followed by hepatocellular carcinomas. Immunohistochemical studies on MT in the liver of LEC rats indicated that MT is accumulated in nuclei and cytosols. Both MT and Cu, estimated by radioimmunoassay and flameless atomic absorption spectrometry, respectively, in subcellular fractions of the liver were found to be concentrated highest in cytosols, followed by nuclei, mitochondria and microsomal fractions. Gel-filtration (Sephadex G-75) studies demonstrated that MT is induced as the Cu-MT form. Furthermore, the Cu-MT fragment purified by the gel-filtration contains the Cu(I)-MT form, as demonstrated by ESR (electron spin resonance) measurements at 77K. These results will be important for understanding the development of hepatitis in LEC rats.
为研究金属硫蛋白（MT）和铜离子（Cu）在长-伊文斯肉桂色（LEC）大鼠肝脏中的分布，以探讨铜-金属硫蛋白诱导与肝炎继发肝细胞癌发展之间的关系。对LEC大鼠肝脏中MT的免疫组织化学研究表明，MT在细胞核和细胞质中积累。通过放射免疫测定法和无火焰原子吸收光谱法分别估计的肝脏亚细胞组分中的MT和Cu，发现其在细胞质中浓度最高，其次是细胞核、线粒体和微粒体组分。凝胶过滤（Sephadex G-75）研究表明，MT以铜-金属硫蛋白形式被诱导。此外，通过凝胶过滤纯化的铜-金属硫蛋白片段含有Cu（I）-MT形式，这在77K下通过电子自旋共振（ESR）测量得到证明。这些结果对于理解LEC大鼠肝炎的发展具有重要意义。
