Methylsulphone metabolites of m-dichlorobenzene as ligands for alpha 2u-globulin in rat kidney and urine.

1. Kidneys from rats given oral doses of either 3,5- or 2,4- dichlorophenyl[14C]methylsulphide contained the corresponding sulphones that were associated with a protein which has been isolated and characterized by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblot analysis to be alpha 2u-globulin. 2. The same methylsulphone-alpha 2u-globulin complex was isolated from the urine from rats doses with 3,5-dichlorophenyl[14C]methylsulphide (0.3-1.0% of dose, 8.5% of 14C in urine. 3. The stoichiometry of binding of the isolated methylsulphone-alpha 2u-globulin complex was shown to be 0.54-0.78 nmol/nmol protein. This binding was not covalent.