Oxalomalate: an inhibitor for two functions

It has been investigated whether oxalomalate (OMA) the competitive inhibitor of cytosolic aconitase might extend its effect also on IRP-1, an iron regulatory protein, probably present in a commercial preparation of purified aconitase. The results showed that IRP-1 is contained in the purified preparation and was strongly inhibited during the incubation with OMA. The effect produced by OMA on the bi-functional protein IRP-1/aconitase was discussed.