Structure, mechanism and regulation of peroxiredoxins.

Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are a ubiquitous family of antioxidant enzymes that also control cytokine-induced peroxide levels which mediate signal transduction in mammalian cells. Prxs can be regulated by changes to phosphorylation, redox and possibly oligomerization states. Prxs are divided into three classes: typical 2-Cys Prxs; atypical 2-Cys Prxs; and 1-Cys Prxs. All Prxs share the same basic catalytic mechanism, in which an active-site cysteine (the peroxidatic cysteine) is oxidized to a sulfenic acid by the peroxide substrate. The recycling of the sulfenic acid back to a thiol is what distinguishes the three enzyme classes. Using crystal structures, a detailed catalytic cycle has been derived for typical 2-Cys Prxs, including a model for the redox-regulated oligomeric state proposed to control enzyme activity.

Topology of the 10 subunits within the decamer of KLH, the hemocyanin of the marine gastropod Megathura crenulata.

Immunoelectron microscopy has been performed using negatively stained immune complexes of keyhole limpet hemocyanin isoform 1 (KLH1) decamers and a functional unit-specific monoclonal antibody anti-KLH1-c1. The antibody links hemocyanin molecules at both the collar and the collarless edge of the decamer, indicating a peripheral localization of functional units c. In isoform 2 (KLH2) the positions of functional units c have been identified with the peanut agglutinin (PNA), which has previously been shown to exclusively bind to KLH2-c. Ferritin linked to PNA was used to visualize labeled molecules electron microscopically. The pattern of labeling also indicates a peripheral localization of the c functional units. The data presented in this paper support only one of two possible models for the subunit orientation within the hemocyanin decamer.