Subcellular distribution of selenium in deficient mouse liver.

Selenium (Se)-deficient mice were labelled in vivo with single pulses of [75Se]selenite, and the intrahepatic distribution of the trace element was studied by subcellular fractionation. At 1 h after intraperitoneal injection of 3.3 or 10 micrograms of Se/kg body weight, 15% of the respective doses were found in the liver. Accumulation in the subcellular fractions followed the order: Golgi vesicular much greater than lysosomal greater than cytosolic = microsomal greater than mitochondrial, peroxisomal, nuclear and plasma-membrane fraction. At a dose of 3.3 micrograms/kg, more than 90% of the hepatic Se was protein-bound. When cross-contamination was accounted for, the following specific Se contents of the subcellular compartments were extrapolated: Golgi apparatus, 7.50 pmol/mg; cytosol, 0.90 pmol/mg; endoplasmic reticulum, 0.80 pmol/mg; mitochondria, 0.49 pmol/mg; nuclei, lysosomes, peroxisomes and plasma membrane, less than 0.4 pmol/mg. At 10 micrograms/kg, a roughly 2-3-fold increase in Se content of all fractions was found without major changes in the intrahepatic distribution pattern. An extraordinary rise in the cytosolic fraction was due to an apparently non-protein-bound Se pool. At 24 h after dosing, total hepatic Se had decreased to 6% of the initial dose and had become predominantly protein-bound. The 60% decrease in hepatic Se was reflected in a similar fall in the subcellular levels of the trace element. The Golgi apparatus still had the highest specific Se content, although accumulation was 5 times less than that after 1 h. The cytosolic pool accounted for 50% of the hepatic Se at both labelling times. After 1 h the Golgi apparatus was, with 19%, the second largest intrahepatic pool, followed by the endoplasmic reticulum with 16%. The high affinity and fast response of the Golgi apparatus to Se supplementation of deficient mice is interpreted in terms of a predominant function of this cell compartment in the processing and the export of Se-proteins from the liver.