Work

The OhrR repressor senses organic hydroperoxides by reversible formation of a cysteine-sulfenic acid derivative

Year: 2002

Type: article

Abstract: Reactive oxygen species induce the expression of detoxification and repair genes critical for life in an aerobic environment. Bacterial factors that sense reactive oxygen species use either thiol-disulfide exchange reactions (OxyR, RsrA) or redox labile 2Fe-2S clusters (SoxR). We demonstrate that the reduced form of Bacillus subtilis OhrR binds cooperatively to two adjacent inverted repeat sequences in the ohrA control region and thereby represses transcription. In the presence of organic hydroperoxides, OhrR is inactivated by the reversible oxidation of a single conserved cysteine residue to the corresponding cysteine-sulfenic acid, and perhaps to higher oxidation states.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.102483199

Authors: Mayuree Fuangthong, John D. Helmann

Institutions: Cornell University, University of California, San Francisco

Language: English

Topic: Redox biology and oxidative stress

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Science Foundation

Award: Selective Gene Regulation by Manganese and Iron in Bacillus subtilis