Stabilities of lanthanide-protein complexes.

After incubation of both serum and HSA solutions with radioactive lanthanide complexes the binding constants of the corresponding lanthanide-protein complexes formed in the protein solutions under physiologic conditions, pH: 7.4, temperature: 310 K, isotonic ionic strength: 0.15 mol/L, were determined. The association constants of the lanthanide-protein complexes formed both in serum and HSA-solutions are equal within the experimental error. In conclusion, serum albumin binding predominates for the radiolanthanides. With the decrease of the ionic radii from 1.034 A (Ce) to 0.858 (Yb) the association constants increased by five orders of magnitude from 1 g Kpr = 4.90 (Ce) to 1 g Kpr = 9.54 (Yb). Further, a serum fractionation with alcohol was carried out to prove that the albumin fraction of serum is responsible for the lanthanide binding in blood.