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Abstract. Nowadays there are numerous pathogens that have created a resistance to commonly used antibiotics and drugs. Therefore research is focused on finding new therapeutic targets and on determination of their 3D structures that could help in designing new effective substances and inhibitors. Thioredoxin system not only plays a crucial role as thiol/disulfide redox controller, it is also essential for certain organisms as the only system ensuring the redox homeostasis. It is the redox-regulating function, which makes thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase attractive for scientific research, especially in many studies of diseases caused by redox instability. Thanks to these facts, the proteins of thioredoxin system are suitable candidates for new therapeutic purposes. In this review we summarized the basic features of the thioredoxin system, we justified why the proteins of thioredoxin system are appropriate therapeutical targets and we provided overview of the possibilities of their inhibition by several types of inhibitors.

Diabetes mellitus is characterized by tissue oxidative damage and impaired microcirculation, as well as worsened erythrocyte properties. Measurements of erythrocyte deformability together with determination of nitric oxide (NO) production and osmotic resistance were used for the characterization of erythrocyte functionality in lean (control) and obese Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats of two age categories. Obese ZDF rats correspond to prediabetic (younger) and diabetic (older) animals. As antioxidants were suggested to protect erythrocytes, we also investigated the potential effect of quercetin (20 mg/kg/day for 6 weeks). Erythrocyte deformability was determined by the filtration method and NO production using DAF-2DA fluorescence. For erythrocyte osmotic resistance, we used hemolytic assay. Erythrocyte deformability and NO production deteriorated during aging—both were lower in older ZDF rats than in younger ones. Three-way ANOVA indicates improved erythrocyte deformability after quercetin treatment in older obese ZDF rats only, as it was not modified or deteriorated in both (lean and obese) younger and older lean animals. NO production by erythrocytes increased post treatment in all experimental groups. Our study indicates the potential benefit of quercetin treatment on erythrocyte properties in condition of diabetes mellitus. In addition, our results suggest potential age-dependency of quercetin effects in diabetes that deserve additional research.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are important in the pathogenesis of numerous diseases. The present study aimed to monitor the activation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and their normotensive counterparts—Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). The animals were divided according to age (7, 20, and 52 weeks) and phenotype into: WKY-7, WKY-20, WKY-52, SHR-7, SHR-20 and SHR-52 groups. MMP plasma activities were determined by gelatine zymography. We monitored selected parameters of oxidative stress and antioxidant status. N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was determined as a marker of heart function and neurohumoral activation. SHR-7 showed higher MMP-2 activity compared with WKY-7, while SHR-52 showed lower MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities compared with WKY-52. Examining age-dependent changes in MMP activities, we found a decrease in MMP-2 activity and increase in MMP-9 activity with increasing age in both phenotypes. Parameters of oxidative stress and antioxidant status as well as NT-proBNP levels were not significantly worsened due to aging in SHR. Our results suggest that hypertension is accompanied by varying MMP activation during aging. The results of our study may indicate that MMP-2 inhibition is therapeutically applicable during the development of hypertension, while in developed, stabilized and uncomplicated hypertension, systemic MMP-2 and MMP-9 inhibition may not be desirable.

This paper describes the cloning, purification and characterization of thioredoxin (TrxA) and thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) from bacterial strain Streptomyces coelicolor . The genes of S. coelicolor encoding TrxA and TrxR were amplified by polymerase chain reaction, inserted into pET expression vector and used to overexpress these proteins in Escherichia coli . TrxA and TrxR were produced as the hexahistidine fusion proteins and were recovered from the cytoplasm as the soluble proteins. The activity of the purified recombinant proteins was demonstrated. The activity of TrxA was shown by efficient reduction of insulin and activity of NADPH-dependent TrxR was revealed by catalyses of 5,5'-dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) reduction reaction. The reduction reaction was fully dependent upon the presence of TrxA as intermediate electron carrier with the pH optimum 7.5 and the temperature optimum 29 degrees C. Km value of TrxR for TrxA was 0.217 +/- 0.02 microM.

PDB Reference: TrxA, 1t00, r1t00sf.Thioredoxins are ubiquitous proteins that serve as reducing agents and general protein disul®de reductases. In turn, they are reduced by electrons obtained from the NADPH-containing thioredoxin reductase. Thioredoxins have been isolated and characterized from a large number of organisms. The Grampositive bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor contains three thioredoxins that are involved in unknown biological processes. trxA from S. coelicolor was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli and the protein puri®ed and crystallized using the hanging-drop method of vapour diffusion. The crystal structure of thioredoxin A has been determined at 1.5 A Ê resolution using a synchrotronradiation source. The protein reveals a thioredoxin-like fold with a typical CXXC active site. The crystal exhibits the symmetry of space group P2 1 2 1 2, with unit-cell parameters a = 43.6, b = 71.8, c = 33.2 A Ê .

The physico-chemical features of the NADPH-thioredoxin reductase (TRR) and two thioredoxins from Streptomyces aureofaciens (A14) are reported. The activity of pure S. aureofaciens thioredoxin reductase decreased drastically in the presence of NADPH or NADH while NADP(+), NAD(+), as well as S. aureofaciens thioredoxin-1 (TR1) activated the enzyme activity significantly. TR1 fully protected the enzyme from inactivation and also promoted its complete reactivation. S. aureofaciens thioredoxin-2 (TR2) did not protect thioredoxin reductase from NADPH inactivation. The results indicate that although the two thioredoxins from S. aureofaciens have similar biochemical properties, their essential oxidoreductase activities are not interchangeable.

Purified malate dehydrogenase (MDH) of Streptomyces aureofaciens was crystallized either in the absence or in the presence of NADH or NADPH coenzymes by hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. An X-ray study has shown, that MDH crystals belong to space group C222(1) with unit-cell parameters a = 53.2 A, b = 104.6 A, c = 520.0 A, alpha = beta = gamma = 90( degrees ), MDH-NADH crystals to space group C2 with unit-cell parameters a = 51.5 A, b = 51.5 A, c = 256 A, alpha = beta = gamma = 90( degrees ), and MDH-NADPH crystals to space group C222(1) with unit-cell parameters a = 72, A b = 72 A, c = 520 A, alpha = beta = gamma = 90( degrees ). The crystal of native MDH diffracted to 2.1 A resolution.