Possible molecular basis of the biochemical effects of cysteine-derived persulfides

CUEVASANTA, ERNESTO; BENCHOAM, DAYANA; SEMELAK, JONATHAN A.; MÖLLER, MATÍAS N.; ZEIDA, ARI; TRUJILLO, MADIA; ALVAREZ, BEATRIZ; ESTRIN, DARÍO A.

Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

Frontiers

Lugar: Lausanne; Año: 2022 vol. 9

Persulfides (RSSH/RSS − ) are species closely related to thiols (RSH/RS − ) and hydrogensulfide (H 2 S/HS − ), and can be formed in biological systems in both low and highmolecular weight cysteine-containing compounds. They are key intermediates incatabolic and biosynthetic processes, and have been proposed to participate in thetransduction of hydrogen sulfide effects. Persulfides are acidic, more acidic thanthiols, and the persulfide anions are expected to be the predominant species atneutral pH. The persulfide anion has high nucleophilicity, due in part to the alphaeffect, i.e., the increased reactivity of a nucleophile when the neighboring atom hashigh electron density. In addition, persulfides have electrophilic character, a propertythat is absent in both thiols and hydrogen sulfide. In this article, the biochemistry ofpersulfides is described, and the possible ways in which the formation of a persulfidecould impact on the properties of the biomolecule involved are discussed.