In the course of the reaction of EC 1.11.1.15, peroxiredoxin, its cysteine residue is alternately oxidized to the sulfenic acid, S-hydroxycysteine, and reduced back to cysteine. Occasionally the S-hydroxycysteine residue is further oxidized to the sulfinic acid S-hydroxy-S-oxocysteine, thereby inactivating the enzyme. The reductase provides a mechanism for regenerating the active form of peroxiredoxin, i.e. the peroxiredoxin-(S-hydroxycysteine) form. Apparently the reductase first catalyses the phosphorylation of the -S(O)-OH group by ATP to give -S(O)-O-P, which is attached to the peroxiredoxin by a cysteine residue, forming an -S(O)-S- link between the two enzymes. Attack by a thiol splits this bond, leaving the peroxiredoxin as the sulfenic acid and the reductase as the thiol.
Chang TS, Jeong W, Woo HA, Lee SM, Park S, Rhee SG
Title
Characterization of mammalian sulfiredoxin and its reactivation of hyperoxidized peroxiredoxin through reduction of cysteine sulfinic acid in the active site to cysteine.
