Intracellular distribution of cations and protein in regenerating rat liver

¹ Biology Laboratory, Hanford Laboratories, General Electric Company, Richland, Washington

The intracellular distribution of several cell constituents was studied at different periods after partial hepatectomy in the rat. The temporal pattern of cation and protein distribution can be divided into two phases: there is an initial phase in the first 24 hr posthepatectomy in which sodium and water increased in tissues concomitant with a decrease in potassium and protein. The levels of these several constituents subsequently approached values that were higher than in the control at 1 and 2 days posthepatectomy and were generally maintained at these values throughout the assay period. The reasons for the accumulation of higher than normal levels of both potassium and sodium are as yet uninterpreted; the higher than control potassium-to-sodium ratios generally observed in the intracellular compartments are due to the relative greater accumulation of potassium ions over sodium ions during this period. Comparing the intracellular compartments, the greatest alterations of constituents in the early phases of liver regeneration were observed in the soluble portion.