Studies on the induction of glutathione S-transferases in mouse liver.

The induction of glutathione S-transferase activity by phenobarbital was studied in the male mouse. Ion-exchange chromatography and density gradient isoelectric focusing were used to characterize the induction. Two transferases were separated by column chromatography, one peak was induced by phenobarbital while the other peak was unaffected. Three peaks of transferase activity were observed when control or induced cytosol was applied and eluted from a density gradient isoelectric focusing column. The induced F2 peak had twice the activity of the F2 control. The amount of activity in the peak labeled F3 was unaltered with PB treatment. It appears that at least one transferase is more inducible by phenobarbital than the others.