Studies on the binding of mercury in tissue homogenates

Abstract

This paper describes an attempt to learn more about the binding of Hg2+ to tissues at pharmacological concentrations of this metal. Other methods were not applicable to such low concentrations of mercury. The method involved equilibrium dialysis of Hg2+ against 1% homogenates of rat kidney or liver in the presence of penicillamine. Two classes of mercury-binding sites were observed, one class having a chemical affinity for mercury 100-fold greater than the other class. The binding capacities of the class of higher and lower affinity were respectively 1.0 x 10-7 and 30 x 10-7 moles of mercury/g wet of tissue. The same classes of binding sites were found in both liver and kidney homogenates. The binding sites of both classes reacted with only one valency of Hg2+, the other valency forming a bond with penicillamine. Thus the total binding capacities of both classes are equivalent to 50% of the total reactive protein-bound thiol groups in the homogenate. The results eliminate 3 possible mechanisms for the preferential accumulation of mercury by kidney. They support the idea that the permeability changes in kidney cells resulting in diuresis are similar to the permeability changes produced on the membranes of other mammalian cell species by mercury.