Nomenclature for mammalian soluble glutathione transferases.

The nomenclature for human soluble glutathione transferases (GSTs) is extended to include new members of the GST superfamily that have been discovered, sequenced, and shown to be expressed. The GST nomenclature is based on primary structure similarities and the division of GSTs into classes of more closely related sequences. The classes are designated by the names of the Greek letters: Alpha, Mu, Pi, etc., abbreviated in Roman capitals: A, M, P, and so on. (The Greek characters should not be used.) Class members are distinguished by Arabic numerals and the native dimeric protein structures are named according to their subunit composition (e.g., GST A1-2 is the enzyme composed of subunits 1 and 2 in the Alpha class). Soluble GSTs from other mammalian species can be classified in the same manner as the human enzymes, and this chapter presents the application of the nomenclature to the rat and mouse GSTs.