Studies on the metabolism of rat liver copper-metallothionein.

The degradation of purified 35S-labelled rat liver isometallothioneins (MT) by lysosomal extracts was studied. Zn-MT-I was more readily hydrolysed than Zn-MT-II, but no significant degradation of the Cu-containing metallothioneins could be detected, even after 24 h incubation. The susceptibility of MT to degradation in vitro may be related to the strength of the metal-thiolate bonds. However, the turnover rates of cytosolic MT in vivo, as established by pulse-labelling techniques, are apparently subject to different controls. The half-lives of MT-I and -II in the liver cytosol of Cu2+-injected rats were only 15.4 +/- 1.5 and 18.2 +/- 1.1 h respectively. Approx. 25% of the total liver MT was present in particulate fractions (probably in lysosomes) of the liver and had a half-life of 25.1 +/- 4.1 h.