A comparison of isometallothionein synthesis in rat liver after partial hepatectomy and parenteral zinc injection

The time course of hepatic zinc-isometallothionein synthesis was studied in the regenerating liver and compared with that produced after the parenteral injection of zinc (6 mg of Zn2+/kg). In the regenerating liver, zinc levels rose rapidly after partial hepatectomy and reached a maximum at approx. 14h before declining to approximately normal levels at 48h post-operation. During this 48h period most of the zinc was incorporated into metallothionein. Purification of the latter into the charge-separable isometallothioneins (i.e. MT1 and MT2) showed that, in the regenerating liver, there was an unequal distribution of zinc between the two isoproteins. Thus at operation the endogenous thionein had an MT2/MT1 ratio of 1; after regeneration this ratio increased, and all times during the time course there was more MT2 than MT1. In contrast, the intraperitoneal injection of zinc produced a biphasic uptake of zinc into the liver with maxima at 10h and 32h. During the first phase of zinc uptake, metallothionein synthesis increased rapidly and, unlike the regenerating liver, the MT2/MT1 ratio of 1 remained constant. Thereafter, this ratio increased in a manner analogous to that exhibited by the regenerating liver. Half-life determinations for thionein disappearance/degradation shows that MT2 and MT1 were degraded with half-lives (t1/2) of 26.18h and 16.44h respectively in the regenerating liver and 14.75h and 9.3h after zinc injection. Thus thionein disappearance/degradation in the regenerating liver was slower than that seen after zinc injection. However, in both situations MT2 was always removed at a slower rate than MT1. Calculation of the rates of thionein synthesis (assuming the above disappearance rates were constant throughout the time course) showed that, in the regenerating liver, the rate of MT2 synthesis was approximately twice that of MT1. This was not the case after zinc injection, where both isometallothioneins were synthesized in equal amounts. These results demonstrate that the rates of synthesis of MT2 and MT1 can be altered according to the metabolic status of the cell and suggest a specific role for MT2 during liver regeneration.