Mammals reduce methionine-S-sulfoxide with MsrA and are unable to reduce methionine-R-sulfoxide, and this function can be restored with a yeast reductase.
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ABSTRACT: Methionine is an essential amino acid in mammals at the junction of methylation, protein synthesis, and sulfur pathways. However, this amino acid is highly susceptible to oxidation, resulting in a mixture of methionine-S-sulfoxide and methionine-R-sulfoxide. Whether methionine is quantitatively regenerated from these compounds is unknown. Here we report that SK-Hep1 hepatocytes grew on methionine-S-sulfoxide and consumed this compound by import and methionine-S-sulfoxide reductase (MsrA)-dependent reduction, but methionine-R-sulfoxide reductases were not involved in this process, and methionine-R-sulfoxide could not be used by the cells. However, SK-Hep1 cells expressing a yeast free methionine-R-sulfoxide reductase proliferated in the presence of either sulfoxide, reduced them, and showed increased resistance to oxidative stress. Only methionine-R-sulfoxide was detected in the plasma of wild type mice, but both sulfoxides were in the plasma of MsrA knock-out mice. These results show that mammals can support methionine metabolism by reduction of methionine-S-sulfoxide, that this process is dependent on MsrA, that mammals are inherently deficient in the reduction of methionine-R-sulfoxide, and that expression of yeast free methionine-R-sulfoxide reductase can fully compensate for this deficiency.
SUBMITTER: Lee BC
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2568918 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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