Compensating for the absence of selenocysteine in high-molecular weight thioredoxin reductases: the electrophilic activation hypothesis.

ABSTRACT: Mammalian thioredoxin reductase (TR) is a pyridine disulfide oxidoreductase that uses the rare amino acid selenocysteine (Sec) in place of the more commonly used amino acid cysteine (Cys). Selenium is a Janus-faced element because it is both highly nucleophilic and highly electrophilic. Cys orthologs of Sec-containing enzymes may compensate for the absence of a Sec residue by making the active site Cys residue more (i) nucleophilic, (ii) electrophilic, or (iii) reactive by increasing both S-nucleophilicity and S-electrophilicity. It has already been shown that the Cys ortholog TR from Drosophila melanogaster (DmTR) has increased S-nucleophilicity [Gromer, S., Johansson, L., Bauer, H., Arscott, L. D., Rauch, S., Ballou, D. P., Williams, C. H., Jr., Schrimer, R. H., and Arnér, E. S (2003) Ac

SUBMITTER: Lothrop AP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3931472 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature