Hemin reversal of benzene-induced inhibition of reticulocyte protein synthesis

Benzene (0.056–0.113 M) rapidly and reversibly inhibited protein synthesis in anucleate human sickle cell and rabbit reticulocytes. Hemin (50 muM) both prevented and reversed this effect of benzene. The inhibition in rabbit reticulocytes was accompanied by a conversion of polyribosomal disaggregation required ribosomal movement along mRNA and was also prevented and reversed by 50 muM hemin. Benzene was also shown to inhibit heme synthesis in rabbit reticulocytes while neither ATP nor GSH levels were altered. A translational repressor (HCR) of reticulocyte cell-free protein synthesis was isolated from intact cells incubated with benzene, while no significant amount of HCR was found in cells incubated with both benzene and hemin. These results indicated that benzene inhibits translation at the heme-dependent site of initiation. The clinical implications of these experiments remain to be elucidated.