RENAL-HEPATIC COMPARISON OF METALLOTHIONEIN IN THE SHEEP FETUS

A renal-hepatic comparison of cytosolic zinc content in the 125-130 day sheep fetus revealed that hepatic levels were at least 7-fold higher than renal levels. Using gel-filtration techniques, it was found that a metallothionein(MT)-like protein present in the hepatic cytosol, but not in the renal cytosol, appeared to be at least partly responsible for these differences. The zinc which was normally associated with the hepatic protein could be successfully displaced from its binding sites by in vitro exposure to saturating levels of cadmium chloride. © 1979.