Department of Cellular Regulation, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, 3-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
J Biochem. 2012 Mar;151(3):255-61. doi: 10.1093/jb/mvs006. Epub 2012 Jan 27.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been regarded as harmful molecules that damage various molecules inside cells by oxidation and are responsible for ageing and various human diseases. However, recent studies have revealed an opposite aspect of ROS that these are actively generated in cells and mediate physiological intracellular signalling as second messengers. Several proteins have been shown to function as effectors for ROS, which are sensitively and reversibly oxidized by ROS. Such ROS-effector proteins commonly possess a highly reactive cysteine (Cys) residue, of which oxidation changes the protein function, thus enabling signal transmission to downstream targets. Among the ROS effectors, protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP), thioredoxin (TRX) and peroxiredoxin (PRX) family proteins possess special domains/motifs to maintain the reactivity of Cys and utilize them to respond to ROS. Progressively advancing identification of ROS-effector proteins reveals the pleiotropic functions of ROS in physiological and pathological cell biology.
活性氧（ROS）一直被认为是有害分子，通过氧化作用破坏细胞内的各种分子，导致衰老和各种人类疾病。然而，最近的研究揭示了 ROS 的另一方面，即在细胞内积极产生并作为第二信使介导生理细胞内信号转导。已经证明几种蛋白质作为 ROS 的效应物发挥作用，ROS 可作为敏感和可逆的 ROS 氧化效应物。这种 ROS 效应物蛋白通常具有高度反应性的半胱氨酸（Cys）残基，其氧化会改变蛋白功能，从而使信号传递到下游靶标。在 ROS 效应物中，蛋白酪氨酸磷酸酶（PTP）、硫氧还蛋白（TRX）和过氧化物酶（PRX）家族蛋白具有特殊的结构域/基序来维持 Cys 的反应性，并利用它们来响应 ROS。对 ROS 效应物蛋白的不断深入鉴定揭示了 ROS 在生理和病理细胞生物学中的多效性功能。
