Can glutathione-S-transferases function as intracellular heme carriers?

The possibility that glutathione-S-transferases can serve as heme carriers in cells was studied via the following two characteristics: the ability to bind hemin reversibly and the coordination between heme and glutathione-S-transferases level in the cell. two erythroleukemic cell lines that can be induced to synthesize hemoglobin were studied, K-562 and Friend murine erythroleukemia cells. It was found that hemin-associated glutathione-S-transferase tends to lose its native structure as expressed by partial irreversible inhibition of glutathione conjugation activity. In K-562 cells, a small increase in heme synthesis was induced, but under no condition could glutathione-S-transferase be elevated. In addition, introduction of high hemin from without caused large hemoglobin production but did not induce changes in the glutathione-S-transferase content. Dimethyl sulfoxide-induced Friend murine erythroleukemia cells synthesized a large amount of endogenous hemin that had to be transported from the mitochondria for hemoglobin synthesis. Although a concomitant increase in glutathione-S-transferase level (20-40%) was observed, it was only short-lived, unlike hemin, which continued to increase. These data indicate a lack of correlation between glutathione-S-transferase and hemin or hemoglobin levels. Finally, dimethyl sulfoxide-induced cells were treated with succinyl acetone to inhibit heme synthesis. These cells showed the same increased levels and time-dependent pattern of glutathione-S-transferase as untreated cells. A similar phenomenon was observed when different substrates were used to measure the activities of glutathione-S-transferases. These results raise doubts about the possibility of glutathione-S-transferases functioning as heme carriers in cells.