Colorimetric assay for the quantitation of iron in yeast.

JORDI TAMARIT; VERÓNICA IRAZUSTA; ARMANDO MORENO-CERMEÑO; JOAQUIM ROS

ANALYTICAL BIOCHEMISTRY

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE

Año: 2006 vol. 351 p. 149 - 151

0003-2697

Iron is a cofactor required for many cellular functionssuch as oxygen transport, electron transfer, or enzymaticcatalysis. However, when it is found in excess, it can easilyreact with oxygen or hydrogen peroxide and can generatetoxic oxygen-derived species [1]. Thus, maintaining ironhomeostasis is essential for cells. Many metabolic diseaseshave been related to iron imbalance [2]. The budding yeastSaccharomyces cerevisiae has become a widely used model tostudy iron uptake, distribution, and storage in eukaryoticcells [3]. Quantitation of total cellular iron content in yeast isrequired to evaluate the impact of diVerent mutations in ironmetabolism. However, this quantitation cannot easily be performedin many molecular biology laboratories because theexisting methods require the use of expensive equipment suchas atomic absorption or ICP1–mass spectrometers [4]. Also,radioactive iron has been used to estimate cell iron uptakeand accumulation [5]. Here, we present a modiWcation of aclassical iron determination assay that allows, after nitricacid digestion of yeast cells, a rapid colorimetrical quantitationof total iron in S. cerevisiae cells.