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Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Spectrophotometric Screening for Potential Inhibitors of Cytosolic Glutathione S-Transferases
Published on: October 10, 2020
The Suppressor of Killer of prune, a unique glutathione S-transferase
1Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA.
Abstract:
The prune-Killer of prune conditional dominant, lethal interaction in Drosophila was identified in the 1950s, but its mechanism remains unknown. We undertook a genetic screen for suppressors of this lethal interaction and identified a gene we named, Suppressor of Killer of prune Su(Kpn). Su(Kpn) is a unique protein with four N-terminal FLYWCH zinc-finger domains, an acidic domain and a C-terminal glutathione S-transferase (GST) domain. The GST domain of Su(Kpn) is of particular interest because GSTs are usually independent of other protein domains. While GSTs are generally thought of as detoxifying enzymes, they are also associated with cellular toxicity. We predict that the GST domain of the Su(Kpn) creates a toxic product in prune-Killer of prune flies that is lethal. The substrate of the Su(Kpn) remains unknown.
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