Mechanism of cysteine oxidation by peroxynitrite: an integrated experimental and theoretical study

Since peroxynitrite was identified as a pathophysiological agent it has been implicated in a great variety of cellular processes. Particularly, peroxynitrite mediated oxidation of cellular thiol-containing compounds such as Cys residues, is a key event which has been extensively studied. Although gr...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Zeida Camacho, Ari Fernando, González Lebrero, Mariano Camilo, Radi, Rafael, Trujillo, Madia, Estrin, Dario Ariel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/8107
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/8107
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Thiols
Cysteine
Peroxynitrite
Oxiadtion
Redox Homeostasis
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.4
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
Descripción
Sumario:Since peroxynitrite was identified as a pathophysiological agent it has been implicated in a great variety of cellular processes. Particularly, peroxynitrite mediated oxidation of cellular thiol-containing compounds such as Cys residues, is a key event which has been extensively studied. Although great advances have been accomplished, the reaction is not completely understood at the atomic level. Aiming to shed light on this subject, we present an integrated kinetic and theoretical study of the oxidation of free Cys by peroxynitrite. We determined pH-independent thermodynamic activation parameters, namely those corresponding to the reaction between the reactive species: Cys thiolate and peroxynitrous acid. We found a pH-independent activation energy of 8.2 ± 0.6 kcal/mol. Simulations were performed using state of the art hybrid quantum-classical (QM-MM) molecular dynamics simulations. Our results are consistent with a SN2 mechanism, with Cys sulfenic acid and nitrite anion as products. The activation barrier is mostly due to the alignment of sulfur's thiolate atom with the oxygen atoms of the peroxide, along with the concomitant charge reorganization and important changes in the solvation profile. This work provides an atomic detailed description of the reaction mechanism and a framework to understand the environment effects on peroxynitrite reactivity with protein thiols.