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Updated: May 15, 2026

Live Imaging of the Mitochondrial Glutathione Redox State in Primary Neurons using a Ratiometric Indicator
Published on: October 20, 2021
Structural analysis of glutaredoxin domain of Mus musculus thioredoxin glutathione reductase
Olena Dobrovolska1, Elena Shumilina, Vadim N Gladyshev
1Department of Biotechnology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Abstract:
Thioredoxin glutathione reductase (TGR) is a member of the mammalian thioredoxin reductase family that has a monothiol glutaredoxin (Grx) domain attached to the thioredoxin reductase module. Here, we report a structure of the Grx domain of mouse TGR, determined through high resolution NMR spectroscopy to the final backbone RMSD value of 0.48 ± 0.10 Å. The structure represents a sandwich-like molecule composed of a four stranded β-sheet flanked by five α-helixes, with the CxxS active motif located on the catalytic loop. We structurally characterized the glutathione-binding site in the protein and describe sequence and structural relationships of the domain with glutaredoxins. The structure illuminates a key functional center that evolved in mammalian TGRs to act in thiol-disulfide reactions. Our study allows us to hypothesize that Cys105 might be functionally relevant for TGR catalysis. In addition, the data suggest that the N-terminus of Grx acts as a possible regulatory signal also protecting the protein active site from unwanted interactions in cellular cytosol.
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