Hepatic copper uptake in fetal and neonatal toxic milk mutant mice

Conference · Mon Mar 11 00:00:00 EST 1991 · FASEB Journal (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology); (United States)

OSTI ID:5371649

Rauch, H; Wells, A ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst (United States)

Mice homozygous for the recessive toxic milk allele (tx/tx) accumulate vast amounts of hepatic copper. Despite this, their offspring are born severely copper deficient. To follow patterns of copper uptake, the authors have measured hepatic copper levels and {sup 67}Cu uptake in fetuses and neonates from normal and mutant (TX) females. Increases in liver weight are equivalent in fetuses from both genotypes. As copper bound to the protein metallothionein accumulates, the ratio of concentration to oliver weight remains constant, but is higher in normal than in TX; comparable differences in {sup 67}Cu uptake are shown. In placentae, copper levels and {sup 67}Cu uptake are similarly markedly reduced in TX, indicating that hepatic copper deficiency is not due to blockage and placental accumulation. Although TX neonates are severely copper deficient at birth, they appear to be otherwise normal; this coupled with the fact that they can be rescued and thrive following a single dose of Cu as late as the sixth postnatal day, suggests that copper accumulation via binding to metallothionein may serve to prevent copper toxicity to the fetus rather than as a mechanism for storage of copper for later use. Neonates continue to show copper levels dictated by the genotype of their dams through the second week, but during the third postnatal week levels shift to reflect their own genotype.

• OSTI ID: 5371649
• Report Number(s): CONF-9104107-; CODEN: FAJOE
• Journal Information: FASEB Journal (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology); (United States), Vol. 5:4; Conference: 75. annual meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), Atlanta, GA (United States), 21-25 Apr 1991; ISSN 0892-6638
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
COPPER
MEMBRANE TRANSPORT
TOXICITY
COPPER 67
FETUSES
GENOTYPE
LIVER
METABOLISM
MUTANTS
NEONATES
NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCY
PLACENTA
TRACER TECHNIQUES
ANIMALS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
COPPER ISOTOPES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
ELEMENTS
FETAL MEMBRANES
GLANDS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
MEMBRANES
METALS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANS
RADIOISOTOPES
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology