Non-protein-bound iron within bacterial cells and the action of bleomycin
Gutteridge, J.M.; Wilkins, S.
Biochemistry International 8(1): 89-94
1984
ISSN/ISBN: 0158-5231 PMID: 6206867 Document Number: 241622
Damage to DNA by bleomycin in vitro is entirely dependent on the presence of an iron salt and molecular oxygen. This same reaction has been used to measure non-protein-bound iron in different bacterial species. Although several of the species examined were insensitive to the toxic effects of bleomycin, they all contained a concentration of non-protein-bound iron which should have been sufficient to allow iron-dependent damage to DNA. Other factors such as permeability or inactivation of the drug must explain their apparent insensitivity.