Maintenance of proteins and aging: the role of oxidized protein repair
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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Defining Hsp33's Redox-regulated Chaperone Activity and Mapping Conformational Changes on Hsp33 Using Hydrogen-deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry
Published on: June 7, 2018
Isabelle Petropoulos1, Bertrand Friguet
1Laboratoire de Biologie et Biochimie Cellulaire du Vieillissement, EA 3106/IFR 117, Université Denis Diderot-Paris 7, CC 7128, 2 Place Jussieu, Paris Cedex, France.
Abstract:
According to the free radical theory of aging proposed by Denham Harman (Journal of Gerontology 1956, 11, pp. 298-300), the continuous oxidative damage to cellular components over an organism's life span is a causal factor of the aging process. The age-related build-up of oxidized protein is therefore resulting from increased protein oxidative damage and/or decreased elimination of oxidized proteins. In this mini-review, we will address the fate, during aging, of the protein maintenance systems that are involved in the degradation of irreversibly oxidized proteins and in the repair of reversible protein oxidative damage with a special focus on the methionine sulfoxide reductases system. Since these protein degradation and repair systems have been found to be impaired with age, it is proposed that not only failure of redox homeostasis but, as importantly, failure of protein maintenance are critical factors in the aging process.
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