Kinetics and mechanisms of thiol-disulfide exchange covering direct substitution and thiol oxidation-mediated pathways.

ABSTRACT:

Significance

Disulfides are important building blocks in the secondary and tertiary structures of proteins, serving as inter- and intra-subunit cross links. Disulfides are also the major products of thiol oxidation, a process that has primary roles in defense mechanisms against oxidative stress and in redox regulation of cell signaling. Although disulfides are relatively stable, their reduction, isomerisation, and interconversion as well as their production reactions are catalyzed by delicate enzyme machineries, providing a dynamic system in biology. Redox homeostasis, a thermodynamic parameter that determines which reactions can occur in cellular compartments, is also balanced by the thiol-disulfide pool. However, it is the kinetic properties of the reactions that best represent c

SUBMITTER: Nagy P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3613173 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature