Al‐Dahmani ZM, Hadian M, Ruiz‐Moreno AJ, Maria SA, Batista FA, Zhang R, Luo Y, Sadremomtaz A, van der Straat R, Spoor M, Dolga AM, Dekker FJ, S S AD, van Goor H, Groves MR. Identification and characterization of a small molecule that activates thiosulfate sulfurtransferase and stimulates mitochondrial respiration.
Protein Sci 2023;
32:e4794. [PMID:
37800277 PMCID:
PMC10594923 DOI:
10.1002/pro.4794]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 09/10/2023] [Accepted: 09/24/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
The enzyme Thiosulfate sulfurtransferase (TST, EC 2.8.1.1), is a positive genetic predictor of diabetes type 2 and obesity. As increased TST activity protects against the development of diabetic symptoms in mice, an activating compound for TST may provide therapeutic benefits in diabetes and obesity. We identified a small molecule activator of human TST through screening of an inhouse small molecule library. Kinetic studies in vitro suggest that two distinct isomers of the compound are required for full activation as well as an allosteric mode of activation. Additionally, we studied the effect of TST protein and the activator on TST activity through mitochondrial respiration. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) approaches supports an allosteric site for the binding of the activator, which is supported by the lack of activation in the Escherichia coli. mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase. Finally, we show that increasing TST activity in isolated mitochondria increases mitochondrial oxygen consumption.
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