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Oxidation of the food preservative 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (BHT) by mouse lung cytochrome P450 produces electrophilic quinone methides thought to promote lung tumors in mice by covalent binding to critical proteins. Specific pulmonary targets of 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylenecyclohexa-2,5-dienone (BHT-QM) have not been identified, however. The present work was undertaken to determine if glutathione S-transferase P1-1 (GSTP1-1) is alkylated by BHT-QM, as this protein is overexpressed in tumors and has important roles in protecting cells from electrophiles and oxidants and in regulating stress kinases. This work was conducted with cell lines C10 and E10 derived from mouse lung epithelia and their spontaneous transformants, the tumorigenic cell lines A5 and E9. Cytosolic GSTs were isolated by affinity chromatography and analyzed by ESI-LC/MS. Ion current chromatograms indicated that GSTP1 predominates over the other isoforms, especially in tumorigenic cells. Treatment with BHT-QM inhibited cytosolic GST activity by 28-44%, and inhibition was exacerbated by depleting intracellular GSH. Alkylation of GSTP1 by BHT-QM was investigated by separating cytosolic proteins with two-dimensional SDS-PAGE and detecting adducts by Western blotting with polyclonal antibodies that recognize the BHT group. The identity of GSTP1 comigrating with immunoreactive material was confirmed by in-gel proteolysis and LC/MS/MS analysis. Human GSTP1 was utilized to investigate the specific residues involved in QM binding. The only peptide adduct detected in digests of monoadducted GSTP1 corresponded to Cys101, whereas adducts at Cys14, Cys47, and Cys101 were identified from the trialkylated protein. Losses of transferase activity were most influenced by alkylation at Cys47, but binding to Cys14 appeared to inhibit the activity further. These findings demonstrate that cytosolic GSTP1 may be a target for BHT-QM resulting in decreased cellular protection from electrophiles and oxidants. Alkylation also may interfere with GSTP1 regulation of stress kinases, thereby influencing phosphorylation and cell growth.

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