Chronic Copper Poisoning in Sheep. II. The Distribution of Soluble Copper‐, Molybdenum‐, and Zinc‐binding Proteins from Liver and Kidney

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Abstract
The concentrations of Cu, Mo and Zn in the soluble protein fraction from sheep liver and kidney were determined after gel filtration. Samples from Norwegian grazing sheep and Cu poisoned sheep were tested. In normal sheep the Cu-binding proteins were separated into 3 different fractions. In Cu poisoned sheep and in grazing sheep with high Cu concentrations, only 2 main fractions were seen. Mo was only found in the high molecular weight protein fraction. The distribution of the Zn-binding proteins varied according to the degree of Cu accumulation. The low molecular weight Zn-binding protein fraction was only seen in sheep with liver Cu concentrations lower than 40 .mu.g/g wet wt. In Cu poisoned sheep a major part of the kidney Cu was found in the low molecular weight protein fraction. At post mortem the bile Cu concentrations in the Cu poisoned sheep were only 2-4 times higher than those of the control animals.