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Stimulated decay of Superoxide caused by ferritin‐bound copper
Author(s) -
Bolann Bjørn J.,
Ulvik Rune J.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(93)80940-v
Subject(s) - ferritin , copper , chemistry , redox , catalysis , inorganic chemistry , atomic absorption spectroscopy , superoxide , absorption (acoustics) , antioxidant , photochemistry , biochemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , composite material , enzyme
The redox interaction between O 2 − and ferritin cannot solely be regarded as a Fe(II) release reaction. We demonstrate that native copper bound to horse spleen ferritin and apoferritin, stimulated the decay of O 2 − in a catalytic reaction. Copper was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Decay of O 2 − was monitored spectrophotometrically as the decrease in ( A 250 ‐ A 360 ) at pH 9.5. The catalytic effect was linearly related to the copper content of the protein. Ferritin copper was less efficient than equimolar CuCl 2 , and iron‐poor ferritin was more efficient than iron‐rich ferritin. The results support a direct antioxidant function of ferritin.