植物谷胱甘肽的生物合成及其生物学功能

谷胱甘肽(glutathione,GSH)是硫酸根还原同化途径中主要的含硫非蛋白终端产物,在生物中以还原型谷胱甘肽(reduced glutathione,GSH)和氧化型谷胱甘肽(oxidized glutathione,GSSG)存在。因其在植物体中的广泛存在和独特的还原能力得到广泛关注。本文从谷胱甘肽在植物体内的生物合成,谷胱甘肽的区划、运输和降解以及在非生物胁迫条件下的生物学功能等方面论述了近年来国内外对谷胱甘肽的研究进展。     

高等植物体内的谷胱甘肽

谷胱甘肽(GSH)在植物对生物与非生物胁迫中起着重要的作用,其作用机制仍是国内外研究的热点之一。从GSH在植物体内的结构、代谢、功能及其分子生物学领域的研究作了综述,并对该领域存在的问题及前景作了展望。     

谷胱甘肽促进液体发酵体系中蛹虫草合成虫草素

虫草素是药用真菌蛹虫草Cordyceps militaris的主要活性成分,具有抗癌、抗肿瘤、抗病毒等多种生理活性。研究表明,氧化应激参与丝状真菌的次级代谢调控,然而在蛹虫草虫草素代谢中尚未见报道。本研究以蛹虫草深层液体发酵体系为研究对象,添加谷胱甘肽（glutathione,GSH）调节细胞氧化还原状态,考察其对虫草素代谢的影响。添加3.0g/L GSH,发酵20d虫草素产量达到(439.69±12.43)mg/L,较无添加对照组提高471.24%,同时谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（glutathione peroxidase,GPX）活力提高414.82%;基因表达分析显示,添加GSH后虫草素生物合成关键基因Cns1和Cns2表达显著上调,发酵第15天其表达量分别是对照组的540.67倍和25.81倍。研究结果初步证实,氧化应激参与蛹虫草中虫草素代谢调控。     

γ—谷氨酸半胱氨酸合成酶（γ—GCS）与肿瘤耐药

谷胱甘肽（glutathione,GSH）及其相关酶类对化疗药物的解毒作用是恶性肿瘤化疗耐药形成的主要原因之一。γ-谷氨酰半胱氨酸合成酶（γ-GCS）是GSH体内生物合成的限速酶,大量的体外及临床实验已证实γ-GCS与多种肿瘤细胞的耐药有关,抑制γ-GCS活性可降低细胞内GSH水平,同时使肿瘤细胞耐药得到不同程度的逆转。本文综述了γ-GCS的生物学特性、基因表达的调控及在肿瘤耐药形成中的作用。     

还原型谷胱甘肽(GSH)的功能与应用

<正> GSH是由谷氨酸、半胱氨酸和甘氨酸组成的含巯基的三肽,广泛存在于生物体内。它参与维持细胞的正常氧化还原状态。对于需要巯基的酶有保护与恢复活性的功能,从而促进糖、脂肪与蛋白质代谢。它是多种酶的辅基与辅酶,参与三羧酸循环与糖代谢,使机体获得能量。谷胱甘肽过氧化酶     

谷胱甘肽磷脂氢过氧化物酶研究进展

谷胱甘肽磷脂氢过氧化物酶(PHGPx)是生物体内一种重要的抗氧化酶。它是一种硒依赖性蛋白,在谷胱甘肽(GSH)的参与下能特异性地还原磷脂氢过氧化物(PLOOH)和胆固醇氢过氧化物(ChOOH),从而保护生物膜免受过氧化损伤。它还是核酸等生物大分子的重要保护剂,并且在细胞凋亡调控中发挥作用。     

一种新的硒酶——硫氧还蛋白还原酶

必需微量元素硒的生物功能主要是通过各种硒酶和硒蛋白来实现的,如谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（ＧＰｘ）类具有抗氧化功能,碘甲腺原氨酸脱碘酶（ＤＩ）类在甲状腺激素的生物合成和代谢中具有重要作用。已有研究表明,在哺乳动物各种组织中可能大约存在２５种左右硒蛋白,但是迄...     

谷胱甘肽在植物抗逆中的作用

在简要总结谷胱甘肽(GSH)的结构、分布、代谢和调控的基础上,概述了GSH在植物抗逆性方面的 作用,认为GSH通过植物体内螯合肽合成酶催化下聚合形成植物螯合肽来抵抗重金属的胁迫,作为抗氧化剂 参与低温伤害的保护,以亲核进攻一结合反应方式进行生物解毒等。讨论了GSH在植物抗逆性功能中的机 制,并就GSH今后在该方面的研究前景进行了展望。     

植物谷胱甘肽代谢与环境胁迫

谷胱甘肽是植物体内普遍存在的小分子抗氧化物质,它在还原态硫的储存和转运、蛋白质和核酸的合成、酶活性的调节、组织抗氧化特性的维持以及对氧化还原敏感的信号传导的调节中起着重要作用。谷胱甘肽库的大小及其氧化还原状态也与植物对多种生物异源物质及生物与非生物环境胁迫的忍耐密切相关。本文简要综述了近年来人们在植物谷胱甘肽生物合成与代谢、转运、信号传导以及胁迫响应中所取得的研究进展。     

外源NO介导Cu胁迫下番茄GSH-PCs合成途径

一氧化氮(NO)作为生物活性分子,广泛参与各种生物和非生物胁迫.采用营养液培养,研究了Cu胁迫下外源NO介导的番茄还原型谷胱甘肽 植物螯合肽(GSH PCs)合成途径中相关酶活性及代谢产物的变化.结果表明: 与对照(CK)相比,Cu胁迫可以显著激活番茄体内γ-谷氨酰半胱氨酸合成酶(γ-ECS)、谷胱甘肽合成酶(GS)活性,根系GSH、PCs含量急剧升高,且随着处理时间的延长,γ-ECS、GS活性和GSH、PCs含量呈持续上升趋势;添加外源硝普钠(SNP, NO供体)可以进一步提高Cu胁迫下番茄根系γ-ECS、GS活性,促进GSH、PCs的合成,增强清除过氧化物的能力,并螯合过多的Cu²⁺,降低其生物毒性.叶片中的GSH-PCs代谢变化在一定程度上滞后于根系.外源丁硫氨酸-亚砜亚胺(BSO,GSH合成抑制剂)显著抑制根系γ-ECS活性,添加SNP可以显著逆转根系中BSO对GSH和PCs合成的抑制,对叶片中PCs合成的影响较小.Cu胁迫下,外源NO可能启动了某些信号机制,并通过激活或增强GSH-PCs合成途径中的酶促和非酶促系统,降低过多的Cu²⁺的生物毒性和氧化伤害.     

Elevated glutathione biosynthetic capacity in the chloroplasts of transgenic tobacco plants paradoxically causes increased oxidative stress

Glutathione (GSH), a major antioxidant in most aerobic organisms, is perceived to be particularly important in plant chloroplasts because it helps to protect the photosynthetic apparatus from oxidative damage. In transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing a chloroplast-targeted gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma-ECS), foliar levels of GSH were raised threefold. Paradoxically, increased GSH biosynthetic capacity in the chloroplast resulted in greatly enhanced oxidative stress, which was manifested as light intensity-dependent chlorosis or necrosis. This phenotype was associated with foliar pools of both GSH and gamma-glutamylcysteine (the immediate precursor to GSH) being in a more oxidized state. Further manipulations of both the content and redox state of the foliar thiol pools were achieved using hybrid transgenic plants with enhanced glutathione synthetase or glutathione reductase activity in addition to elevated levels of gamma-ECS. Given the results of these experiments, we suggest that gamma-ECS-transformed plants suffered continuous oxidative damage caused by a failure of the redox-sensing process in the chloroplast.     

Glutathione in Synechocystis 6803: A closer look into the physiology of a ΔgshB mutant

Glutathione (GSH) is a low molecular weight thiol compound that plays many roles in photosynthetic organisms. We utilized a ΔgshB (glutathione synthetase) mutant strain as a tool to evaluate the role of GSH in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (hereafter Synechocystis 6803), a model photosynthetic organism. The ΔgshB mutant does not synthesize glutathione, but instead accumulates the GSH precursor, γ-glutamylcysteine (γ-EC), to millimolar levels. We found that γ-EC was sufficient to permit cellular proliferation during optimal conditions, but not when cells were exposed to conditions promoting oxidative stress. Furthermore, we found that many factors affecting growth rate and photosynthetic activities strongly influenced cellular thiol content. Here, we are providing some additional insights into the role of GSH and γ-EC in Synechocystis 6803 during conditions promoting oxidative stress.Key words: redox, reactive oxygen species, cyanobacteria, photosynthesis, photosystem I, photosystem II, methyl viologen, metal, cadmium, arsenate, selenate     

具有高谷胱甘肽合成活性重组大肠杆菌的构建及合成反应过程

以野生型大肠杆菌E.coliⅡ为宿主细胞,转化带有编码谷胱甘肽合成酶系的基因gshⅠ和gshⅡ的质粒pGH501,获得了一株谷胱甘肽合成活性、质粒稳定性和传代稳定性俱佳,并且能够重复使用的重组大肠杆菌E.coliⅡ\|1。该菌株经过甲苯处理后,能够在胞外积累4g/L左右的谷胱甘肽(GSH)。在合成反应体系中,提高L谷氨酸浓度可促进GSH合成,但L半胱氨酸浓度增大到20mmol/L后会抑制GSH的合成。根据GSH合成反应中能量辅因子的变化情况,提出E.coliⅡ\|1细胞控制的GSH合成反应机理：由谷胱甘肽合成酶(GSHⅡ)控制的第二步反应的能量供体是ADP而非ATP,该反应是整个GSH合成反应的限速步骤,高浓度ADP可能会抑制GSHⅡ的活性。在GSH合成反应体系中添加100mmol/L的L丝氨酸-硼酸钾混合物,可以有效地防止GSH的进一步降解,反应3 h后,GSH产量达到230mmol/L(约71g/L)。     

Efficient production of glutathione in Saccharomyces cerevisiae via a synthetic isozyme system

Glutathione, a tripeptide consisting of cysteine, glutamic acid, and glycine, has multiple beneficial effects on human health. Previous studies have focused on producing glutathione in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by overexpressing γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (GSH1) and glutathione synthetase (GSH2), which are the rate-limiting enzymes involved in the glutathione biosynthetic pathway. However, the production yield and titer of glutathione remain low due to the feedback inhibition on GSH1. To overcome this limitation, a synthetic isozyme system consisting of a novel bifunctional enzyme (GshF) from Gram-positive bacteria possessing both GSH1 and GSH2 activities, in addition to GSH1/GSH2, was introduced into S. cerevisiae, as GshF is insensitive to feedback inhibition. Given the HSP60 chaperonin system mismatch between bacteria and S. cerevisiae, co-expression of Group-I HSP60 chaperonins (GroEL and GroES) from Escherichia coli was required for functional expression of GshF. Among various strains constructed in this study, the SKSC222 strain capable of synthesizing glutathione with the synthetic isozyme system produced 240 mg L^-1 glutathione with glutathione content and yield of 4.3% and 25.6 mg_glutathione/g_glucose, respectively. These values were 6.6-, 4.9-, and 4.3-fold higher than the corresponding values of the wild-type strain. In a glucose-limited fed-batch fermentation, the SKSC222 strain produced 2.0 g L^-1 glutathione in 67 h. Therefore, this study highlights the benefits of the synthetic isozyme system in enhancing the production titer and yield of value-added chemicals by engineered strains of S. cerevisiae.     

Gradual Drought Under Field Conditions Influences the Glutathione Metabolism,Redox Balance and Energy Supply in Spring Wheat

Glutathione (GSH) metabolism, redox balance and energy supply in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) during gradual drought stress under field conditions were investigated. Although levels of total and reduced GSH were decreased, the ratio of GSH/GSSG (glutathione disulfide) was markedly increased by drought. Levels of GSH biosynthetic precursors, cysteine (Cys) and -glutamylcysteine (-GC), and the activities of their biosynthetic enzymes, -glutamylcysteine synthetase (-GCS) and glutathione synthetase (GSHS) were also significantly increased in stressed plants. Glutathione reductase (GR) activity, which is responsible for the conversion of GSSG to GSH, was also increased under this field stress. However, two other important enzymes in GSH metabolism, glutathione peroxidase (GP) and glutathione S-transferase (GST), showed decreased activity in the droughted plants. These results suggest that the higher ratio of GSH/GSSG, the rate of GSH biosynthesis and the capacity of its redox cycling rather than GSH accumulation might be essential for drought resistance of plants. Activities of the two key Calvin-cycle enzymes possessing exposed sulfhydryl groups, NADP⁺-dependent glyceraldehydes-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PD) and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) were not affected by drought stress, whereas, activity of the key enzyme in the pentose-phosphate pathway (PPP), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-PGD), increased in the droughted plants. The ratios of NADPH/NADP⁺, NADH/NAD⁺ and ATP/ADP increased in the droughted plants, indicating that an up-regulation of the reduced redox state and the energy supply in the plant cells might be an important physiological strategy for plants responding to drought stress. A simple correlation between the high ratio of GSH/GSSG, the rate of GSH biosynthesis and the redox cycle and the high reduction states of redox status in the plant cells was also observed under field drought.     

Comparison of the thermolability and hydrophobic properties of high- and low-molecular-weight forms of rabbit liver arginyl-tRNA synthetase

Summary Two preparations with arginyl-tRNA synthetase activity have been obtained from rabbit liver post-microsomal fraction: a) a high-molecular-weight containing the multienzyme aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase complex and b) a low-molecular-weight preparation containing free enzymes. Thermal inactivation of arginyl-tRNA synthetase in both preparations has been compared in a solution which was successively supplemented with tRNA, reduced glutathione, L-ascorbic acid, ZnCl₂ and Triton × 100. Moreover, hydrophobic properties of both enzyme preparations have been compared. It was found that the complexed arginyl-tRNA synthetase is more stable than the free enzyme. A role of hydrophobic interactions in the maintenance of the complexed enzyme stability is suggested.Abbreviations DFP Diisopropylfluorophosphate - GSH Glutathione (reduced) - PMSF Phenylmethylsulfonyl Fluoride - Ap₄A Diadenosine 5, 5-P₁, P₄-tetraphosphate - Preparation I high-molecular-weight arginyl-tRNA synthetase preparation - Preparation II low-molecular-weight arginyl-tRNA synthetase preparation     

Novel kinetics of mammalian glutathione synthetase: characterization of gamma-glutamyl substrate cooperative binding

Glutathione (GSH) synthetase [L-gamma-glutamyl-L-cysteinyl:glycine ligase (ADP-forming), EC 6.3.2.3] catalyzes the final step in GSH biosynthesis. Mammalian glutathione synthetase is a homodimer with each subunit containing an active site. We report the detailed kinetic data for purified recombinant rat glutathione synthetase. It has the highest specific activity (11 micromol/min/mg) reported for any mammalian glutathione synthetase. The apparent K(m) values for ATP and glycine are 37 and 913 microM, respectively. The Lineweaver-Burk double reciprocal plot for gamma-glutamyl substrate binding revealed a departure from linearity indicating cooperative binding. Quantitative analysis of the kinetic results for gamma-glutamyl substrate binding gives a Hill coefficient (h) of 0. 576, which shows the negative cooperativity. Neither ATP, the other substrate involved in forming the enzyme-bound gamma-glutamyl phosphate intermediate, nor glycine, which attacks this intermediate to form GSH, exhibit any cooperativity. The cooperative binding of gamma-glutamyl substrate is not affected by ATP concentration. Thus, mammalian glutathione synthetase is an allosteric enzyme.     

Glutathione synthesis is regulated by nitric oxide in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Medicago truncatula</Emphasis> roots

Glutathione (GSH) is one of the main antioxidants in plants. Legumes have the specificity to produce a GSH homolog, homoglutathione (hGSH). We have investigated the regulation of GSH and hGSH synthesis by nitric oxide (NO) in Medicago truncatula roots. Analysis of the expression level of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (γ-ECS), glutathione synthetase (GSHS) and homoglutathione synthetase (hGSHS) after treatment with sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), two NO-donors, showed that γ-ecs and gshs genes are up regulated by NO treatment whereas hgshs expression is not. Differential accumulation of GSH was correlated to gene expression in SNP-treated roots. Our results provide the first evidence that GSH synthesis pathway is regulated by NO in plants and that there is a differential regulation between gshs and hgshs in M. truncatula. G. Innocenti and C. Pucciariello have contributed equally to the work.     

Lateral gene transfer and parallel evolution in the history of glutathione biosynthesis genes

Background  

Glutathione is found primarily in eukaryotes and in Gram-negative bacteria. It has been proposed that eukaryotes acquired the genes for glutathione biosynthesis from the alpha-proteobacterial progenitor of mitochondria. To evaluate this, we have used bioinformatics to analyze sequences of the biosynthetic enzymes γ-glutamylcysteine ligase and glutathione synthetase.     

Glutathione synthesis and its role in redox signaling

Glutathione (GSH) is the most abundant antioxidant and a major detoxification agent in cells. It is synthesized through two-enzyme reaction catalyzed by glutamate cysteine ligase and glutathione synthetase, and its level is well regulated in response to redox change. Accumulating evidence suggests that GSH may play important roles in cell signaling. This review will focus on the biosynthesis of GSH, the reaction of S-glutathionylation (the conjugation of GSH with thiol residue on proteins), GSNO, and their roles in redox signaling.