Effect of ferritin on lambda DNA strand breaks in the reaction system of alloxan plus NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase: ferritin's role in diabetogenic action of alloxan.

The incubation of lambda DNA in the reaction system of alloxan plus NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (fp2) in the presence of ferritin caused strand breaks after a lag time of about 5 min. Addition of ferritin to the reaction system at concentrations below 50 micrograms/ml caused the strand breaks of DNA in a concentration-dependent fashion. Catalase, scavengers of hydroxyl radicals (HO.) and iron-chelators almost completely inhibited the DNA strand breaks, but superoxide dismutase (SOD) did not, suggesting that the strand breaks are induced by the generation of HO. via the reaction of H2O2 and Fe(II), namely, the Fenton reaction. When the ferritin was incubated in the reaction system of alloxan plus fp2, the iron release from ferritin increased with incubation time depending on the amount of fp2. The addition of increasing concentrations of ferritin to the reaction system resulted in progressive increase in the iron release and a decrease in the electron spin resonance signal intensity of alloxan radical (HA.), the one electron reduced form of alloxan, suggesting that HA. generated in the reaction system is capable of releasing iron from ferritin. These results support the possibility that the iron released from ferritin may be involved in the diabetogenic action of alloxan.