During Oxidative Stress the Clp Proteins of Escherichia coli Ensure that Iron Pools Remain Sufficient To Reactivate Oxidized Metalloenzymes
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Hydrogen peroxide mediates the toxicity of phagocytes, lactic acid bacteria, redox-cycling antibiotics, and photochemistry. The underlying mechanisms all involve its reaction with iron atoms, whether in enzymes or on the surface of DNA. Accordingly, when bacteria perceive toxic H 2 O 2 , they activate defensive tactics that are focused on iron metabolism. In this study, we identify a conundrum: DNA is best protected by the removal of iron from the cytoplasm, but this action impairs the ability of the cell to reactivate its iron-dependent enzymes. The actions of the Clp proteins appear to hedge against the oversequestration of iron by the miniferritin Dps. This buffering effect is important, because E. coli seeks not just to survive H 2 O 2 but to grow in its presence.
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Mobilization of stored iron pools often requires reduction, or in some cases proteolysis, and occurs on a time-scale of minutes.
“Mobilization of these stored iron pools often requires reduction,132 or in some cases proteolysis,127,133 and occurs on a time-scale of minutes.”
From Metals in Motion: Understanding Labile Metal Pools in Bacteria (2025) · cites this paper as [133]
The Results report that ClpXP proteolyzes the iron-storage protein Dps, and the Discussion gives a 10-minute half-life for Dps in unstressed cells (pages unavailable). This supports proteolysis as a possible route to iron mobilization, but the paper does not establish that stored iron is released on a minutes-long timescale; it also does not support reduction as a mobilization mechanism. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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Toxic DNA damage by hydrogen peroxide through the Fenton reaction in vivo and in vitro
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“The Fenton reaction between Fe(II) and H2O2 generates hydroxyl radicals that damage DNA and other biomolecules (18).”
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Metals in Motion: Understanding Labile Metal Pools in Bacteria
Helmann, J. D. (2025) · Biochemistry · doi:10.1021/acs.biochem.4c00726 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sen, A., Zhou, Y., & Imlay, J. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Bacteriology
- Publisher
- American Society for Microbiology
- Published
- 2020-08-25
- Volume
- 202
- Issue
- 18
- ISSN
- 0021-9193 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-5530
- PMC
- PMC7925084
- OpenAlex
- W3037177471
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 2.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Bacteriology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (GM49640)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Redox biology and oxidative stress
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Heat shock proteins research
- Keywords
- Clp protease, oxidative stress, hydrogen peroxide, iron metabolism, iron sequestration, DNA protection, Escherichia coli, oxidative stress resistance
- MeSH terms
- Carrier Proteins, Escherichia coli, Hydrogen Peroxide, Iron, Metalloproteins, Oxidative Stress, Escherichia coli Proteins, Endopeptidase Clp
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