l-Thyroxine enters the rat liver cell by simple diffusion

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Abstract
The mode of uptake of l-[125I]thyroxine by freshly isolated rat liver parenchymal cells was studied by a rapid centrifugation technique. Using conditions for measuring initial rates of uptake, uptake by liver cells was not saturable when exposed to hormone concentrations in the incubation medium ranging from 2 pmol/l to 10 μmol/l. The Arrhenius plot was linear from 2 to 37°C; the temperature coefficient was 1·4. The uptake of l-[125I]thyroxine by liver cells was 35% when compared with that of l-[125I]tri-iodothyronine. In the presence of 2·8% bovine serum albumin the rate of uptake of l-[125I]thyroxine by liver cells was reduced by 90%. These results suggest that l-[125I]thyroxine enters the rat liver parenchymal cell by simple diffusion and only the free hormone crosses the plasma membrane.