Pseudocolloid formation of Uranium with soluble surface glycoprotein of Paramecium

Kozai, Naofumi   ; Sakamoto, Fuminori  ; Tanaka, Kazuya  ; Sato, Takahiro; Kamiya, Tomihiro

When living Paramecium cells were exposed to a U(VI) aqueous solution, U was hardly detected in the cells, while U was clearly detected in the Paramecium cells that were pre-killed with a fixative before exposure to the U aqueous solution. The U in the liquid phase after the experiment was found to bound to a large soluble glycoprotein to form pseudocolloid. We discuss the relation between these results and the soluble glycoprotein covering the cell surface of Paramecium.