ǂ These authors contributed equally to this work Rhodanese domains are structural modules present in the sulfurtransferase superfamily. These domains can exist as single units, in tandem repeats or fused to domains with other activities. Despite their prevalence across species, the specific physiological roles of most sulfurtransferases are not known. Mammalian rhodanese and mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase are perhaps the best-studied members of this protein superfamily and are involved in hydrogen sulfide metabolism. The relatively unstudied human thiosulfate sulfurtransferase like domain-containing 1 (TSTD1) protein, a single-domain cytoplasmic sulfurtransferase, was also postulated to play a role in the sulfide oxidation pathway using thiosulfate to form glutathione persulfide, for subsequent processing in the mitochondrial matrix. Prior kinetic analysis of TSTD1 was performed at pH 9.2, raising questions about relevance and the proposed model for TSTD1 function. In this study, we report a 1.04 Å resolution crystal structure of human TSTD1, which displays an exposed active site that is distinct from that of rhodanese and mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase. Kinetic studies with a combination of sulfur donors and acceptors reveal that TSTD1 exhibits a low K M for thioredoxin as a sulfane sulfur acceptor and that it utilizes thiosulfate inefficiently as a sulfur donor. The active site exposure and its interaction with thioredoxin, suggest that TSTD1 might play a role in sulfide-based signaling. The apical localization of TSTD1 in human colonic crypts, which interfaces with sulfide-releasing microbes, and the overexpression of TSTD1 in colon cancer, provides potentially intriguing clues as to its role in sulfide metabolism.
Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S)1 is an important signaling molecule with effects on multiple physiological processes including neuromodulation, inflammation and cardiac function (1-7). Maintaining healthy levels of H 2 S in mammalian cells requires tight control of its biosynthesis and its catabolism (8,9). H 2 S is produced endogenously by two enzymes in the transsulfuration pathway, cystathionine β-synthase and γ-cystathionase as well as by mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MST) (10-13). H 2 S is oxidized via the sulfide oxidation pathway to generate the end-products thiosulfate Protein persulfidation, a posttranslational modification of cysteine residues, is postulated to be a major mechanism by which H 2 S signals (17). However, the mechanism by which target proteins acquire this modification and the sulfur source(s) used in persulfidation reactions are unclear (18). Sulfurtransferases like rhodanese or the single rhodanese domain containing TSTD1 could potentially play a role in protein persulfidation because of their capacity to form an active site cysteine persulfide during their reaction cycle (18).The rhodanese superfamily members are distinguished by a structural module with an α/β topology in which α-helices surround a central five-stranded β-sheet core (19). At least three variations...