Glutathione-coordinated metal complexes as substrates for cellular transporters
Stephen A Pearson, J. A. Cowan
Abstract
Glutathione is the major thiol-containing species in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes and plays a wide variety of roles, including detoxification of metals by sequestration, reduction, and efflux. ABC transporters such as MRP1 and MRP2 detoxify the cell from certain metals by exporting the cations as a metal-glutathione complex. The ability of the bacterial Atm1 protein to efflux metal-glutathione complexes appears to have evolved over time to become the ABCB7 transporter in mammals, located in the inner mitochondrial membrane. No longer needed for the role of cellular detoxification, ABCB7 appears to be used to transport glutathione-coordinated iron-sulfur clusters from mitochondria to the cytosol.
Topics & Concepts
GlutathioneEffluxCytosolDetoxification (alternative medicine)TransporterMitochondrionChemistryATP-binding cassette transporterBiochemistryMultidrug resistance-associated protein 2Inner mitochondrial membraneXenobioticBiophysicsBiologyEnzymeGeneMedicineAlternative medicinePathologyDrug Transport and Resistance MechanismsTrace Elements in HealthHeavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity