Disulfide Chromophores Arise from Stereoelectronic Effects

An ultraviolet-driven rescue pathway for oxidative stress to eye lens protein human gamma-D crystallin

Human gamma-D crystallin (HGD) is a major constituent of the eye lens. Aggregation of HGD contributes to cataract formation, the leading cause of blindness worldwide. It is unique in its longevity, maintaining its folded and soluble state for 50-60 years. One outstanding question is the structural basis of this longevity despite oxidative aging and environmental stressors including ultraviolet radiation (UV). Here we present crystallographic structures evidencing a UV-induced crystallin redox switch mechanism. The room-temperature serial synchrotron crystallographic (SSX) structure of freshly prepared crystallin mutant (R36S) shows no post-translational modifications. After aging for nine months in the absence of light, a thiol-adduct (dithiothreitol) modifying surface cysteines is observed by low-dose SSX. This is shown to be UV-labile in an acutely light-exposed structure. This suggests a mechanism by which a major source of crystallin damage, UV, may also act as a rescuing factor in a finely balanced redox system.

Disulfide radical anion as a super-reductant in biology and photoredox chemistry

Disulfides are involved in a broad range of radical-based synthetic organic and biochemical transformations. In particular, the reduction of a disulfide to the corresponding radical anion, followed by S-S bond cleavage to yield a thiyl radical and a thiolate anion plays critical roles in radical-based photoredox transformations and the disulfide radical anion in conjunction with a proton donor, mediates the enzymatic synthesis of deoxynucleotides from nucleotides within the active site of the enzyme, ribonucleotide reductase (RNR). To gain fundamental thermodynamic insight into these reactions, we have performed experimental measurements to furnish the transfer coefficient from which the standard E0(RSSR/RSSR˙-) reduction potential has been determined for a homologous series of disulfides. The electrochemical potentials are found to be strongly dependent on the structures and electronic properties of the substituents of the disulfides. In the case of cysteine, a standard potential of E0(RSSR/RSSR˙-) = -1.38 V vs. NHE is determined, making the disulfide radical anion of cysteine one of the most reducing cofactors in biology.

Light-Fueled Primitive Replication and Selection in Biomimetic Chemical Systems

The concept of chemically evolvable replicators is central to abiogenesis. Chemical evolvability requires three essential components: energy-harvesting mechanisms for nonequilibrium dissipation, kinetically asymmetric replication and decomposition pathways, and structure-dependent selective templating in the autocatalytic cycles. We observed a UVA light-fueled chemical system displaying sequence-dependent replication and replicator decomposition. The system was constructed with primitive peptidic foldamer components. The photocatalytic formation-recombination cycle of thiyl radicals was coupled with the molecular recognition steps in the replication cycles. Thiyl radical-mediated chain reaction was responsible for the replicator death mechanism. The competing and kinetically asymmetric replication and decomposition processes led to light intensity-dependent selection far from equilibrium. Here, we show that this system can dynamically adapt to energy influx and seeding. The results highlight that mimicking chemical evolution is feasible with primitive building blocks and simple chemical reactions.

Selective, Modular Probes for Thioredoxins Enabled by Rational Tuning of a Unique Disulfide Structure Motif

Specialized cellular networks of oxidoreductases coordinate the dithiol/disulfide-exchange reactions that control metabolism, protein regulation, and redox homeostasis. For probes to be selective for redox enzymes and effector proteins (nM to μM concentrations), they must also be able to resist non-specific triggering by the ca. 50 mM background of non-catalytic cellular monothiols. However, no such selective reduction-sensing systems have yet been established. Here, we used rational structural design to independently vary thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of disulfide stability, creating a series of unusual disulfide reduction trigger units designed for stability to monothiols. We integrated the motifs into modular series of fluorogenic probes that release and activate an arbitrary chemical cargo upon reduction, and compared their performance to that of the literature-known disulfides. The probes were comprehensively screened for biological stability and selectivity against a range of redox effector proteins and enzymes. This design process delivered the first disulfide probes with excellent stability to monothiols yet high selectivity for the key redox-active protein effector, thioredoxin. We anticipate that further applications of these novel disulfide triggers will deliver unique probes targeting cellular thioredoxins. We also anticipate that further tuning following this design paradigm will enable redox probes for other important dithiol-manifold redox proteins, that will be useful in revealing the hitherto hidden dynamics of endogenous cellular redox systems.

n→π* Interactions Modulate the Disulfide Reduction Potential of Epidithiodiketopiperazines

Epithiodiketopiperazines (ETPs) are a structurally complex class of fungal natural products with potent anticancer activity. In ETPs, the diketopiperazine ring is spanned by a disulfide bond that is constrained in a high-energy eclipsed conformation. We employed computational, synthetic, and spectroscopic methods to investigate the physicochemical attributes of this atypical disulfide bond. We find that the disulfide bond is stabilized by two n→π* interactions, each with large energies (3-5 kcal/mol). The n→π* interactions in ETPs make disulfide reduction much more difficult, endowing stability in physiological environments in a manner that could impact their biological activity. These data reveal a previously unappreciated means to stabilize a disulfide bond and highlight the utility of the n→π* interaction in molecular design.