Transferrin Glycans

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Abstract
The hepatic uptake of 59Fe from diferric rat and rabbit asialotransferrins and from human transferrin lacking 2 sialyl residues was investigated in rats in experiments lasting for 1 h. The 59Fe attached to either of these preparations disappeared from the plasma more rapidly than the 59Fe introduced with the unmodified respective parent proteins. Most of the 59Fe activity that had disappeared from the circulation could be recovered with the liver. Studies with double-labeled (125I, 59Fe) preparations showed that the enhanced 59Fe clearance was not associated with increased catabolism of the modified transferrins. Prolonged, heavy alcohol consumption, as shown by others, results in the appearance of sialic acid-deficient transferrin (2 residues missing) in human serum. Evidently, the increased capacity of transferrin deficient in sialic acid to selectively deposit Fe in the hepatocytes may be of significance for the development of the hepatic siderosis observed in alcoholism.

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