The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of recombinant Escherichia coli (E. coli) Trx-jingzhaotoxin (JZTX)-III on cell growth in the mouse hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line Hepa1-6. The JZTX-III gene sequence was synthesized and cloned into the pET-32a(+) vector to construct the recombinant fusion protein Trx-JZTX-III, which was subsequently purified. Hepa1-6 cells we...

The medicinal macrofungus Inonotus obliquus widely utilized as folk medicine in Russia and Baltic countries is a source of phenylpropanoid-derived styrylpyrone polyphenols that can inhibit tumor proliferation. Insights into the regulatory machinery that controls I. obliquus styrylpyrone polyphenol biosynthesis will enable strategies to increase the production of these molecules. Here we show th...

Thioredoxin (Trx) and glutathione/glutaredoxin (GSH/Grx) systems play the dominant role in cellular redox homeostasis. Recently the Trx system has been shown to be responsible to control the balance of GSH/GSSG once the glutathione reductase system is not available. To decipher the structural basis of electron transfer from the Trx system to GSSG, we solved the crystal structures of oxidized Tr...

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), a member of the thioredoxin (Trx) superfamily, consists of five consecutive domains, a-b-b'-a'-c. Domain combinations, AB, A'C, B'A'C and AB-C, and hybrids of PDI domains with Trx, Trx-C and Trx-B'A'C, have been constructed and expressed in Escherichia coli to examine the contributions of PDI domains to its enzyme and chaperone activities. All the combination ...

We previously reported that Triton X-100 (TRX) reduced methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus, although the degree of reduction varied among strains. One of the biological effects of TRX on S. aureus cells was enhancement of lipoteichoic acid (LTA) release. We investigated the correlation between the amount of LTA released and the degree of reduction in methicillin resistance induced b...

Das KC. Thioredoxin-deficient mice, a novel phenotype sensitive to ambient air and hypersensitive to hyperoxia-induced lung injury. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 308: L429–L442, 2015. First published December 24, 2014; doi:10.1152/ajplung.00285.2014.— Pulmonary oxygen toxicity is a major clinical problem for patients undergoing supplemental oxygen therapy. Thioredoxin (Trx) is an endogenou...

Thioredoxin (Trx) from Escherichia coli was compared with bovine protein disulfide-isomerase (PDI) for its ability to catalyze native disulfide formation in either reduced or randomly oxidized (scrambled) ribonuclease A (RNase). On a molar basis, a 100-fold higher concentration of Trx than of PDI was required to give the same rate of native disulfide formation measured as recovery of RNase acti...

In previous studies, we determined that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), acting intracellularly via its intrinsic thiol-protein oxidoreductase (TPOR) activity, stimulates basal neuronal delayed-rectifier K(+) current (I(Kv)) and inhibits basal and angiotensin (ANG) II-induced increases in neuronal activity. These findings are the basis for our hypothesis that MIF is a negative regu...

Oxidative stress has a bidirectional role in the development and maturation of zygotes and embryos. Reduction-oxidation reactions and regulatory proteins, such as thioredoxin (TRX) and thioredoxin reductase (TRXR), are intimately involved in the regulation of oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of TRX mRNA and protein in ovarian follicles collected from women und...