The mercapturic acid pathway is a major route for the biotransformation of xenobiotic and endobiotic electrophilic compounds and their metabolites. Mercapturic acids (N-acetyl-L-cysteine S-conjugates) are formed by the sequential action of the glutathione transferases, c-glutamyltransferases, dipeptidases, and cysteine S-conjugate N-acetyltransferase to yield glutathione S-conjugates, L-cysteinylglycine S-conjugates, L-cysteine S-conjugates, and mercapturic acids; these metabolites constitute a "mercapturomic" profile. Aminoacylases catalyze the hydrolysis of mercapturic acids to form cysteine S-conjugates. Several renal transport systems facilitate the urinary elimination of mercapturic acids; urinary mercapturic acids may serve as biomarkers for exposure to chemicals. Although mercapturic acid formation and elimination is a detoxication reaction, L-cysteine S-conjugates may undergo bioactivation by cysteine Sconjugate b-lyase. Moreover, some L-cysteine S-conjugates, particularly L-cysteinyl-leukotrienes, exert significant pathophysiological effects. Finally, some enzymes of the mercapturic acid pathway are described as the so-called "moonlighting proteins," catalytic proteins that exert multiple biochemical or biophysical functions apart from catalysis.