Dissociation of the calcium-protein complex of laying hen's plasma

¹ Department of Poultry Husbandry, University of California, Davis, California

The bound, or nondiffusible, calcium component of laying hen's plasma was found to be freely dissociable, in conformance with the mass action principle. No evidence of enzymatic activity, which would dissociate the complex, was found in various tissues and materials associated with shell formation. The kinetics of dissociation of the calcium-protein complex were studied in a series of plasma preparations in which the calcium concentration alone was varied. The dissociation constant for the calcium-protein complex of laying hen's plasma was found to be 10^–1.1. Also investigated was the effect of changes in salt concentration (NaCl) and pH on the dissociation of calcium-proteinate.