The Mitochondria-to-Cytosol H₂O₂ Gradient Is Caused by Peroxiredoxin-Dependent Cytosolic Scavenging

Fluorescent protein-based reporters used to measure intracellular H₂O₂ were developed to overcome the limitations of small permeable dyes. The two major families of genetically encoded redox reporters are the reduction-oxidation sensitive green fluorescent protein (roGFP)-based proteins fused to peroxiredoxins and HyPer and derivatives. We have used the most sensitive probes of each family, roGFP2-Tpx1.C169S and HyPer7, to monitor steady-state and fluctuating levels of peroxides in fission yeast. While both are able to monitor the nanomolar fluctuations of intracellular H₂O₂, the former is two-five times more sensitive than HyPer7, and roGFP2-Tpx1.C169S is partially oxidized in the cytosol of wild-type cells while HyPer7 is fully reduced. We have successfully expressed HyPer7 in the mitochondrial matrix, and it is ~40% oxidized, suggesting higher steady-state levels of peroxides, in the low micromolar range, than in the cytosol. Cytosolic HyPer7 can detect negligible H₂O₂ in the cytosol from mitochondrial origin unless the main H₂O₂ scavenger, the cytosolic peroxiredoxin Tpx1, is absent, while mitochondrial HyPer7 is oxidized to the same extent in wild-type and ∆tpx1 cells. We conclude that there is a bidirectional flux of H₂O₂ across the matrix and the cytosol, but Tpx1 rapidly and efficiently scavenges mitochondrial-generated peroxides and stops their steady-state cytosolic levels rising.