Selenoglutathione Diselenide: Unique Redox Reactions in the GPx-Like Catalytic Cycle and Repairing of Disulfide Bonds in Scrambled Protein

Biochemistry. 2017 Oct 24;56(42):5644-5653. doi: 10.1021/acs.biochem.7b00751. Epub 2017 Oct 12.

Abstract

Selenoglutathione (GSeH) is a selenium analogue of naturally abundant glutathione (GSH). In this study, this water-soluble small tripeptide was synthesized in a high yield (up to 98%) as an oxidized diselenide form, i.e., GSeSeG (1), by liquid-phase peptide synthesis (LPPS). Obtained 1 was applied to the investigation of the glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like catalytic cycle. The important intermediates, i.e., GSe- and GSeSG, besides GSeO2H were characterized by 77Se NMR spectroscopy. Thiol exchange of GSeSG with various thiols, such as cysteine and dithiothreitol, was found to promote the conversion to GSe- significantly. In addition, disproportionation of GSeSR to 1 and RSSR, which would be initiated by heterolytic cleavage of the Se-S bond and catalyzed by the generated selenolate, was observed. On the basis of these redox behaviors, it was proposed that the heterolytic cleavage of the Se-S bond can be facilitated by the interaction between the Se atom and an amino or aromatic group, which is present at the GPx active site. On the other hand, when a catalytic amount of 1 was reacted with scrambled 4S species of RNase A in the presence of NADPH and glutathione reductase, native protein was efficiently regenerated, suggesting a potential use of 1 to repair misfolded proteins through reduction of the non-native SS bonds.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Disulfides / chemistry*
  • Glutathione / analogs & derivatives*
  • Glutathione / chemical synthesis
  • Glutathione / chemistry*
  • Glutathione Peroxidase / chemistry*
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Ribonuclease, Pancreatic / chemistry*
  • Selenium / chemistry*

Substances

  • Disulfides
  • Glutathione Peroxidase
  • Ribonuclease, Pancreatic
  • Glutathione
  • Selenium