Heterologous Expression of Either Human or Soya Bean Ferritins in Budding Yeast Reveals Common Functions Protecting Against Oxidative Agents and Counteracting Double-Strand Break Accumulation

Ferritins are globular proteins that, upon self-assembly in nanocages, are capable of bio-safely storing huge concentrations of bioavailable iron. They are present in most cell types and organisms; one of the exceptions is yeast. Heterologous expression of either human or vegetal ferritins in <i&...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nuria Pujol Carrión, Maria Ángeles de la Torre-Ruiz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Biomolecules
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/15/3/447
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Summary:Ferritins are globular proteins that, upon self-assembly in nanocages, are capable of bio-safely storing huge concentrations of bioavailable iron. They are present in most cell types and organisms; one of the exceptions is yeast. Heterologous expression of either human or vegetal ferritins in <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> revealed new and unknown functions for soya bean ferritins; validated this model by confirming previously characterized functions in human ferritins and also demonstrated that, like human H chain, vegetal H1, and H2 chains also shown a tendency to localize in the nucleus when expressed in an eukaryotic cell model lacking plastids and chloroplasts. Furthermore, when expressed in the system budding yeast, the four ferritins (human H and L and soya bean H1 and H2 chains) present equivalent and relevant functions as protectors against oxidative damage and against the accumulation of double-strand breaks in the DNA. We present evidence demonstrating that these effects are exclusively observed with oxidative agents that operate through the Fenton reaction, such as H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>. Here, we also discuss the ferritin requirement for N-glycosylation to exert these functions. We believe that our approach might contribute to extending the knowledge around ferritin function and its consequent relevance to human health.
ISSN:2218-273X