S. Rigacci et al., EVIDENCE FOR GLUTATHIONE INVOLVEMENT IN PLATELET-DERIVED GROWTH-FACTOR-MEDIATED SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION, Biochemical journal, 324, 1997, pp. 791-796
Recent studies show that glutathione, while being involved in the well
-known physiological processes of amino acid transport and detoxificat
ion, can also play a part in cell proliferation events. Cell treatment
with L-buthionine sulphoximine, which causes glutathione depletion, i
s accompanied by a decrease in cell proliferation, At present no preci
se relationship between this thiol and any critical intermediate of th
e mitogenic cascade has been proved. In this study, conducted on NIH/3
T3 murine fibroblasts, we demonstrate a strict correlation between glu
tathione levels and platelet-derived growth-factor-receptor activation
in response to stimulation and cell proliferation. The receptor autop
hosphorylation is severely impaired at low glutathione cellular levels
. The interaction of glutathione with this growth-factor receptor in v
ivo, while being rather specific, is complex and may involve both cyto
solic and extracellular receptor domains.