(2006) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 103, 8656 -8661), we have shown that thioredoxin, although an excellent reducing system for Escherichia coli MsrA and MsrB and bovine MsrA, is not an efficient reducing agent for either human MsrB2 (hMsrB2) or human MsrB3 (hMsrB3). In a search for another reducing agent for hMsrB2 and hMsrB3, it was recently found that thionein, the reduced, metal-free form of metallothionein, could function as a reducing system for hMsrB3, with weaker activity using hMsrB2. In the present study, we provide evidence that some selenium compounds are potent reducing agents for both hMsrB2 and hMsrB3.The methionine sulfoxide reductases (Msr) 2 are a family of enzymes that can reduce either free or protein-bound methionine sulfoxide (met(o)) (1). The reduction of met(o) in proteins is catalyzed by either MsrA, which reduces the S epimer of met(o) (met-S-(o)), or the MsrB proteins, which reduce the R epimer of met(o) (met-R-(o)). Previous genetic studies with MsrA have shown that this enzyme plays an important role in protecting cells against oxidative damage and may also be involved in aging (1-4). Although thioredoxin (Trx) has been accepted as the reducing agent for MsrA, recent studies have shown that two of the members of the MsrB family, hMsrB2 and hMsrB3, do not use Trx efficiently (5). In a search for another reducing system for these MsrB enzymes, it was discovered that thionein (T), the reduced apoprotein of metallothionein (MT), could function as a reducing system for hMsrB3 and that Trx could reduce oxidized thionein (T(o)), permitting T to recycle (5). In previous studies on the oxidation and reduction of Zn-MT, it was shown that selenium compounds, such as selenocystamine (SeCm), can markedly increase the release of zinc from Zn-MT or the uptake of zinc by T, depending on the oxidation state of the protein (6). In the presence of a reducing agent such as GSH, the SeCm is reduced to selenocysteamine (SeCem) (7), which greatly accelerates the reduction of T(o) and the uptake of zinc to form Zn-MT (6). Previous studies have also shown that reduced selenium compounds can function as reducing agents for lipid hydroperoxides (8). One of the members of the Msr family, MsrB1, is a selenoprotein, although MsrB2 and MsrB3 do not contain selenium but are zinc proteins (9). In the present studies, we have examined the effect of SeCm and other selenium compounds on the activity of several Msr enzymes in the presence of either the Trx system or T.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURESMethionine sulfoxide, dabsyl chloride (4-N,N-dimethylaminoazobenzene-4-sulfonyl chloride, DABS-Cl), SeCm, SeCem, selenocystine, sodium selenite (Na 2 SeO 3 ), sodium selenate (Na 2 SeO 4 ), selenomethionine, ebselen, and other chemicals were purchased from Sigma, unless specified otherwise. DABS-met-S-(o) and DABS-met-R-(o) were prepared by derivatizing the amino group of met-R-(o) or met-S-(o) with DABS-Cl (10, 11). Trx and Trx reductase (Escherichia coli), bovine MsrA (bMsrA), E. coli MsrA and MsrB (eMsrA and eMsrB), and huma...