Interaction of organic azides with purified camel glutathione S-transferase.

A series of organic azides was synthesized and was tested as inhibitors of purified camel glutathione S-transferases. Enzymes purified from camel liver, lung, and kidney were inhibited reversibly by these compounds in a concentration-dependent pattern. The liver glutathione S-transferase was more sensitive to inhibition by most of these compounds and the lung enzyme was the least affected. The most effective reversible inhibitors of the tested organic azides for the purified camel liver enzyme were alkyl and allyl azides. The inhibition occurred immediately upon adding the inhibitors and remained constant during a further 30-min incubation period. The tested organic azides were found to inhibit the glutathione S-transferase catalyzed conjugation of glutathione with both 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene and 4-nitrobenzyl chloride and the kinetics of these inhibitions was qualitatively different, being competitive with some inhibitors and noncompetitive with others.