Premium
A shared mechanism of SoxR activation by redox‐cycling compounds
Author(s) -
Dietrich Lars E. P.,
Kiley Patricia J.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2011.07552.x
Subject(s) - superoxide , regulon , redox , reactive oxygen species , biology , escherichia coli , cycling , function (biology) , biochemistry , transcription factor , superoxide dismutase , microbiology and biotechnology , biophysics , oxidative stress , chemistry , gene , enzyme , history , organic chemistry , archaeology
Summary In this issue of Molecular Microbiology, Gu and Imlay show that a class of compounds known as redox‐cycling agents directly activate the transcription factor SoxR of Escherichia coli and cause cellular toxicity independent of the production of the reactive oxygen species superoxide. Despite the fact that redox‐cycling agents increase formation of superoxide in E. coli , the results described in this new publication revise the long‐held assumption that superoxide is responsible for the activation of SoxR and for all of the major toxic effects of redox‐cycling drugs. This study also suggests that the critical function of the SoxRS regulon in E. coli is in protection against redox‐cycling agents and not exclusively the defence against superoxide.