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Animal ferritin and bacterioferritin contain quinones
F K al-Massad1, F H Kadir, G R Moore
1Centre for Metalloprotein Spectroscopy and Biology, School of Chemical Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, U.K.
Abstract:
The origin of the 440 nm fluorescence of horse spleen ferritin and of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Azotobacter vinelandii bacterioferritin has been investigated using a Nitro Blue Tetrazolium/glycinate colorimetric test specific for quiones [Paz, Flückiger, Boak, Kagan & Gallop (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 689-692]. The results of the analysis indicate that ferritin and bacterioferritins contain quinones. A possible functional role of these quinones in iron uptake and release is described, as is the possibility that the presence of quinones in these proteins results from oxidative damage.