Biomimetic studies on selenoenzymes: modeling the role of proximal histidines in thioredoxin reductases

The roles of built-in thiol cofactors and the basic histidine (His) residues in the active site of mammalian thioredoxin reductases (TrxRs) are described with the help of experimental and density functional theory calculations on small-molecule model compounds. The reduction of selenenyl sulfides by thiols in selenoenzymes such as glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and TrxR is crucial for the regeneration of the active site. Experimental as well as theoretical studies were carried out with model selenenyl sulfides to probe their reactivity toward incoming thiols. We have shown that the nucleophilic attack of thiols takes place at the selenium center in the selenenyl sulfides. These thiol exchange reactions would hamper the regeneration of the active species selenol. Therefore, the basic His residues are expected to play crucial roles in the selenenyl sulfide state of TrxR. Our model study with internal amino groups in the selenenyl sulfide state reveals that the basic His residues may play important roles by deprotonating the thiol moiety in the selenenic acid state and by interacting with the sulfur atom in the selenenyl sulfide state to facilitate the nucleophilic attack of thiol at sulfur rather than at selenium, thereby generating the catalytically active species selenol. This model study also suggests that the enzyme may use the internal cysteines as cofactors to overcome the thiol exchange reactions.     

Glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like antioxidant activity of the organoselenium drug ebselen: unexpected complications with thiol exchange reactions

The factors that are responsible for the relatively low glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like antioxidant activity of organoselenium compounds such as ebselen (1, 2-phenyl-1,2-benzisoselenazol-3(2H)-one) in the reduction of hydroperoxides with aromatic thiols such as benzenethiol and 4-methylbenzenethiol as cosubstrates are described. Experimental and theoretical investigations reveal that the relatively poor GPx-like catalytic activity of organoselenium compounds is due to the undesired thiol exchange reactions that take place at the selenium center in the selenenyl sulfide intermediate. This study suggests that any substituent that is capable of enhancing the nucleophilic attack of thiol at sulfur in the selenenyl sulfide state would enhance the antioxidant potency of organoselenium compounds such as ebselen. It is proved that the use of thiol having an intramolecularly coordinating group would enhance the biological activity of ebselen and other organoselenium compounds. The presence of strong S...N or S...O interactions in the selenenyl sulfide state can modulate the attack of an incoming nucleophile (thiol) at the sulfur atom of the -Se-S- bridge and enhance the GPx activity by reducing the barrier for the formation of the active species selenol.     

Antioxidant activity of the anti-inflammatory compound ebselen: a reversible cyclization pathway via selenenic and seleninic acid intermediates

A revised mechanism that accounts for the glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like catalytic activity of the organoselenium compound ebselen is described. It is shown that the reaction of ebselen with H(2)O(2) yields seleninic acid as the only oxidized product. The X-ray crystal structure of the seleninic acid shows that the selenium atom is involved in a noncovalent interaction with the carbonyl oxygen atom. In the presence of excess thiol, the Se--N bond in ebselen is readily cleaved by the thiol to produce the corresponding selenenyl sulfide. The selenenyl sulfide thus produced undergoes a disproportionation in the presence of H(2)O(2) to produce the diselenide, which upon reaction with H(2)O(2), produces a mixture of selenenic and seleninic acids. The addition of thiol to the mixture containing selenenic and seleninic acids leads to the formation of the selenenyl sulfide. When the concentration of the thiol is relatively low in the reaction mixture, the selenenic acid undergoes a rapid cyclization to produce ebselen. The seleninic acid, on the other hand, reacts with the diselenide to produce ebselen as the final product. DFT calculations show that the cyclization of selenenic acids to the corresponding selenenyl amides is more favored than that of sulfenic acids to the corresponding sulfenyl amides. This indicates that the regeneration of ebselen under a variety of conditions protects the selenium moiety from irreversible inactivation, which may be responsible for the biological activities of ebselen.     

Glutathione peroxidase-like antioxidant activity of diaryl diselenides: a mechanistic study.

The synthesis, structure, and thiol peroxidase-like antioxidant activities of several diaryl diselenides having intramolecularly coordinating amino groups are described. The diselenides derived from enantiomerically pure R-(+)- and S-(-)-N,N-dimethyl(1-ferrocenylethyl)amine show excellent peroxidase activity. To investigate the mechanistic role of various organoselenium intermediates, a detailed in situ characterization of the intermediates has been carried out by (77)Se NMR spectroscopy. While most of the diselenides exert their peroxidase activity via selenol, selenenic acid, and selenenyl sulfide intermediates, the differences in the relative activities of the diselenides are due to the varying degree of intramolecular Se.N interaction. The diselenides having strong Se.N interactions are found to be inactive due to the ability of their selenenyl sulfide derivatives to enhance the reverse GPx cycle (RSeSR + H(2)O(2) = RSeOH). In these cases, the nucleophilic attack of thiol takes place preferentially at selenium rather than sulfur and this reduces the formation of selenol by terminating the forward reaction. On the other hand, the diselenides having weak Se.N interactions are found to be more active due to the fast reaction of the selenenyl sulfide derivatives with thiol to produce diphenyl disulfide and the expected selenol (RSeSR + PhSH = PhSSPh + RSeH). The unsubstituted diaryl diselenides are found to be less active due to the slow reactions of these diselenides with thiol and hydrogen peroxide and also due to the instability of the intermediates. The catalytic cycles of 18 and 19 strongly resemble the mechanism by which the natural enzyme, glutathione peroxidase, catalyzes the reduction of hydroperoxides.     

Diselenides and allyl selenides as glutathione peroxidase mimetics. Remarkable activity of cyclic seleninates produced in situ by the oxidation of allyl omega-hydroxyalkyl selenides

A series of aliphatic diselenides and selenides containing coordinating substituents was tested for glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-like catalytic activity in a model system in which the reduction of tert-butyl hydroperoxide with benzyl thiol to afford dibenzyl disulfide and tert-butyl alcohol was performed under standard conditions and monitored by HPLC. Although the diselenides showed generally poor catalytic activity, allyl selenides proved more effective. In particular, allyl 3-hydroxypropyl selenide (25) rapidly generated 1,2-oxaselenolane Se-oxide (31) in situ by a series of oxidation and [2,3]sigmatropic rearrangement steps. The remarkably active cyclic seleninate 31 proved to be the true catalyst, reacting with the thiol via a postulated mechanism in which the thioseleninate 32 is first produced, followed by further thiolysis to selenenic acid 33 and oxidation-dehydration to regenerate 31. In contrast to catalysis with GPx, formation of the corresponding selenenyl sulfide 34 comprises a competing deactivation pathway in the catalytic cycle of 31, as a separate experiment revealed that authentic 34 was a much less effective catalyst than 31. 1,2-Oxaselenane Se-oxide (37), the six-membered homologue of 31, was formed similarly from allyl 4-hydroxybutyl selenide (26), but proved a less effective catalyst than 31. Compounds 31 and 37 are the first examples of unsubstituted monocyclic seleninate esters.     

Effect of substituents on the GPx-like activity of ebselen: steric versus electronic

The direct oxidation of ebselen and several derivatives by hydrogen peroxide is investigated using the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) method to elucidate the effects of substituents on GPx-like activity. While previous studies have attributed the differences in GPx activity of substituted ebselen compounds to the electronic nature of the substituents, the influence of functional groups is poorly understood. The effects of various solvents are incorporated by employing the CPCM method. It is shown that a substituent in the ortho position to the selenium atom sterically hinders attack of a nucleophile at selenium and thus increases the barrier to reaction. The observed increase in GPx-like activity of an ebselen derivative with an ortho substituent is explained by the fact that the steric hindrance prevents thiol exchange reactions.     

Modeling the mechanism of the glutathione peroxidase mimic ebselen

Ebselen (1), the quintessential mimic of the antioxidant selenoenzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPx), is a potential chemopreventative for various diseases associated with oxidative stress. Density-functional theory (DFT) and solvent-assisted proton exchange (SAPE) are used to model the complex mechanism for scavenging of reactive oxygen species by 1. SAPE is a microsolvation method designed to approximate the role of bulk solvent in chemical processes involving proton transfer. Consistent with experimental studies, SAPE studies predict the reaction of 1 with thiol (RSH) to form a selenenyl sulfide 2 to be preferred under most conditions, with an alternate pathway through a selenoxide 3 possible at high reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentrations ([ROS] ? [RSH]). The reduction of 2 to the selenol 4, known to be rate-determining in the protein, has a high SAPE activation barrier due to a strong Se···O interaction which reduces the electrophilicity of the sulfur center of the -SeS- bond of 2. Thiols, such as dithiols and peptide-based thiols, are expected to overcome this barrier through structural features that increase the probability of attack at this sulfur. Thus, in vivo, the GPx-like pathway is the most likely mechanism for 1 under most circumstances, except, perhaps, under extreme oxidative stress where initial oxidation to 3 could compete with formation of 2. Simple thiols, used in various in vitro studies, are predicted by SAPE modeling to proceed through oxidation of 2 to a seleninyl sulfide intermediate. Overall, SAPE modeling provides a realistic interpretation of the redox mechanism of 1 and holds promise for further exploration of complex aqueous-phase reaction mechanisms.     

Modeling Thioredoxin Reductase-Like Activity with Cyclic Selenenyl Sulfides: Participation of an NH⋅⋅⋅Se Hydrogen Bond through Stabilization of the Mixed Se−S Intermediate

At the redox-active center of thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), a selenenyl sulfide (Se−S) bond is formed between Cys497 and Sec498, which is activated into the thiolselenolate state ([SH,Se⁻]) by reacting with a nearby dithiol motif ([SH^Cys59,SH^Cys64]) present in the other subunit. This process is achieved through two reversible steps: an attack of a cysteinyl thiol of Cys59 at the Se atom of the Se−S bond and a subsequent attack of a remaining thiol at the S atom of the generated mixed Se−S intermediate. However, it is not clear how the kinetically unfavorable second step progresses smoothly in the catalytic cycle. A model study that used synthetic selenenyl sulfides, which mimic the active site structure of human TrxR comprising Cys497, Sec498, and His472, suggested that His472 can play a key role by forming a hydrogen bond with the Se atom of the mixed Se−S intermediate to facilitate the second step. In addition, the selenenyl sulfides exhibited a defensive ability against H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress in cultured cells, which suggests the possibility for medicinal applications to control the redox balance in cells.     

Confusion between dimethyl selenenyl sulfide and dimethyl selenone released by bacteria

Dimethyl selenone [(CH₃)₂SeO₂] has been reported in the literature as a metabolite released by bacteria in contact with selenium metal or selenium salts. In this study, mass spectral, chromatographic, and boiling-point data are presented that show that dimethyl selenone has been confused with dimethyl selenenyl sulfide (CH₃SeSCH₃). In addition, the headspaces above monocultures of selenium-resistant bacteria were examined using gas chromatography followed by fluorine-induced chemiluminescence detection. A number of alkyl sulfur and selenium species were detected, along with dimethyl selenenyl sulfide. A pathway from oxidized selenium salts to reduced methylated selenides and dimethyl selenenyl sulfide is also presented.     

Intercalation of gaseous thiols and sulfides into Ag+ ion-exchanged aluminum dihydrogen triphosphate

Ag(+) ion-exchanged layered aluminum dihydrogen triphosphate (AlP) with the interlayer distance of 0.85 nm was synthesized by the ion-exchange of proton in triphosphate with Ag(+) ion. The amount of exchanged Ag(+) ion depended on the concentration of AgNO(3) aqueous solution. Ag(+) ion-exchanged AlP adsorbed gaseous thiols and sulfides into the interlayer region. The adsorption amounts of thiols were more than those of sulfides, thiols with one mercapto group > thiol with two mercapto groups > sulfides, and depended on the amount of exchanged Ag(+) ion in the interlayer region. The thiols with one mercapto group were intercalated to expand the interlayer distance of Ag(+) ion-exchanged AlP, whereas there was no expansion in the adsorption of sulfide. In the case of thiol with two mercapto groups, there was observed contraction of the interlayer distance through the bridging with Ag(+) ions of the upper and lower sides of the interlayer region.     

Effect of ring strain on nucleophilic substitution at selenium: a computational study of cyclic diselenides and selenenyl sulfides

Nucleophilic substitution reactions of small rings incorporating selenium are examined using computational methods. The potential energy surfaces of HS- and HSe- with 1,2-diselenirane, 1,2-diselenetane, 1,2-diselenolane, and 1,2-diselenane were computed at B3LYP/6-31+G(d) and MP2/6-31+G(d). The reactions of three-, four-, five-, and six-membered rings incorporating the S-Se bond with HS- were computed at B3LYP/6-31+G(d). The strained three- and four-membered diselenides and selenenyl sulfide rings undergo SN2 reactions, while the five- and six-membered rings react via the addition-elimination pathway, a path that invokes a hypercoordinate selenium intermediate. The strain in the small rings precludes the addition of a further ligand to either heteroatom. Substitution at selenium is both kinetically and thermodynamically favored over attack at sulfur.     

Degradation of organic sulfur compounds by a coal-solubilizing Fungus

Paecilomyces sp. TLi, a coal-solubilizing fungus, was shown to degrade organic sulfur-containing coal substructure compounds. Di-benzothiophene was degraded via a sulfur-oxidizing pathway to 2,2′-dihydroxybiphenyl. No further metabolism of that compound was observed. Ethyl phenyl sulfide and diphenyl sulfide were degraded to the corresponding sulfones. A variety of products were formed from dibenzyl sulfide, presumably via free radical intermediates. Diphenyl disulfide and dibenzyl disulfide were cleaved to the corresponding thiols and other single-ring products. It was concluded that degradation of organic sulfur compounds byPaecilomyces involves an oxidative attack localized at the sulfur atom.     

Synthesis and Structure–Activity Correlation Studies of Secondary‐ and Tertiary‐Amine‐Based Glutathione Peroxidase Mimics

In this study, a series of secondary‐ and tertiary‐amino‐substituted diaryl diselenides were synthesized and studied for their glutathione peroxidase (GPx) like antioxidant activities with H₂O₂, cumene hydroperoxide, or tBuOOH as substrates and with PhSH or glutathione (GSH) as thiol cosubstrates. This study reveals that replacement of the tert‐amino groups in benzylamine‐based diselenides by sec‐amino moieties drastically enhances the catalytic activities in both the aromatic thiol (PhSH) and GSH assay systems. Particularly, the N‐propyl‐ and N‐isopropylamino‐substituted diselenides are 8–18 times more active than the corresponding N,N‐dipropyl‐ and N,N‐diisopropylamine‐based compounds in all three peroxide systems when GSH is used as the thiol cosubstrate. Although the catalytic mechanism of sec‐amino‐substituted diselenides is similar to that of the tert‐amine‐based compounds, differences in the stability and reactivity of some of the key intermediates account for the differences in the GPx‐like activities. It is observed that the sec‐amino groups are better than the tert‐amino moieties for generating the catalytically active selenols. This is due to the absence of any significant thiol‐exchange reactions in the selenenyl sulfides derived from sec‐amine‐based diselenides. Furthermore, the seleninic acids (RSeO₂H) derived from the sec‐amine‐based compounds are more stable toward further reactions with peroxides than their tert‐amine‐based analogues.     

Covalent Scrambling in Porous Polyarylthioethers through a Stepwise SNAr for Tunable Bandgap and Porosity

Porous poly(aryl thioether)s offer stability and electronic tunability by robust sulfur-aryl conjugated architecture, but synthetic access is hindered due to limited control over the nucleophilic nature of sulfides and the air sensitivity of aromatic thiols. Here, we report a simple, one-pot, inexpensive, regioselective synthesis of highly porous poly(aryl thioether)s through polycondensation of perfluoroaromatic compounds with sodium sulfide. The unprecedented temperature-dependent para-directing formation of thioether linkages leads to a stepwise transition of the polymer extension into a network, thereby allowing fine control of the porosity and optical band gaps. The obtained porous organic polymers with ultra-microporosity (<1 nm) and sulfur as the surface functional groups show size-dependent separation of organic micropollutants and selective removal of mercury ions from water. Our findings offer easy access to poly(aryl thioether)s with accessible sulfur functionalities and higher complexity, which will help in realizing advanced synthetic designs in applications such as adsorption, (photo)catalysis, and (opto)electronics.     

Thiol cofactors for selenoenzymes and their synthetic mimics

The importance of selenium as an essential trace element is now well recognized. In proteins, the redox-active selenium moiety is incorporated as selenocysteine (Sec), the 21st amino acid. In mammals, selenium exerts its redox activities through several selenocysteine-containing enzymes, which include glutathione peroxidase (GPx), iodothyronine deiodinase (ID), and thioredoxin reductase (TrxR). Although these enzymes have Sec in their active sites, they catalyze completely different reactions and their substrate specificity and cofactor or co-substrate systems are significantly different. The antioxidant enzyme GPx uses the tripeptide glutathione (GSH) for the catalytic reduction of hydrogen peroxide and organic peroxides, whereas the larger and more advanced mammalian TrxRs have cysteine moieties in different subunits and prefer to utilize these internal cysteines as thiol cofactors for their catalytic activity. On the other hand, the nature of in vivo cofactor for the deiodinating enzyme ID is not known, although the use of thiols as reducing agents has been well-documented. Recent studies suggest that molecular recognition and effective binding of the thiol cofactors at the active site of the selenoenzymes and their mimics play crucial roles in the catalytic activity. The aim of this perspective is to present an overview of the thiol cofactor systems used by different selenoenzymes and their mimics.     

Reaction for nucleophilic opening of thiirane ring by thiols

Conclusions The nucleophilic opening of the thiirane ring by thiols proceeds with greater difficulty than that of the oxirane ring. Aliphatic and aromatic thiols in nonpolar solvents, using homogeneous catalysis by bases, can be unambiguously mercaptoethylated by selecting the necessary ratios of thiol compound and ethylene sulfide.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 3, pp. 660–662, March, 1975.     

Fast and Selective Modification of Thiol Proteins/Peptides by <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-(Phenylseleno)phthalimide

We previously reported that selenamide reagents such as ebselen and N-(phenylseleno)phthalimide (NPSP) can be used to selectively derivatize thiols for mass spectrometric analysis, and the introduced selenium tags are useful as they could survive or removed with collision-induced dissociation (CID). Described herein is the further study of the reactivity of various protein/peptide thiols toward NPSP and its application to derivatize thiol peptides in protein digests. With a modified protocol (i.e., dissolving NPSP in acetonitrile instead of aqueous solvent), we found that quantitative conversion of thiols can be obtained in seconds, using NPSP in a slight excess amount (NPSP:thiol of 1.1–2:1). Further investigation shows that the thiol reactivity toward NPSP reflects its chemical environment and accessibility in proteins/peptides. For instance, adjacent basic amino acid residues increase the thiol reactivity, probably because they could stabilize the thiolate form to facilitate the nucleophilic attack of thiol on NPSP. In the case of creatine phosphokinase, the native protein predominately has one thiol reacted with NPSP while all of four thiol groups of the denatured protein can be derivatized, in accordance with the corresponding protein conformation. In addition, thiol peptides in protein/peptide enzymatic digests can be quickly and effectively tagged by NPSP following tri-n-butylphosphine (TBP) reduction. Notably, all three thiols of the peptide QCCASVCSL in the insulin peptic digest can be modified simultaneously by NPSP. These results suggest a novel and selective method for protecting thiols in the bottom-up approach for protein structure analysis.     

Photochemical Dual‐Catalytic Synthesis of Alkynyl Sulfides

A photochemical dual‐catalytic cross‐coupling to form alkynyl sulfides via C(sp)−S bond formation is described. The cross‐coupling of thiols and bromoalkynes is promoted by a soluble organic carbazole‐based photocatalyst using continuous flow techniques. Synthesis of alkynyl sulfides bearing a wide range of electronically and sterically diverse aromatic alkynes and thiols can be achieved in good to excellent yields (50–96 %). The simple continuous flow setup also allows for short reaction times (30 min) and high reproducibility on gram scale. In addition, we report the first application of photoredox/nickel dual catalysis towards macrocyclization, as well as the first example of the incorporation of an alkynyl sulfide functional group into a macrocyclic scaffold.     

The fate of sulfur-bound hydrogen on formation of self-assembled thiol monolayers on gold: (1)H NMR spectroscopic evidence from solutions of gold clusters

It is demonstrated that thiols can adsorb to gold without losing hydrogen. Dodecyl sulfide-capped gold clusters have been prepared and subjected to ligand exchange reactions in perdeuterated benzene by addition of dodecanethiol and subsequently dodecyl disulfide. It is shown by 1H NMR spectroscopy that dodecanethiol molecules are readily taken up as ligands producing characteristic broad signals corresponding to the alpha-methylene and S-H protons, with chemical shifts close to those found for thiol in solution; these signals are absent in spectra of thiolate-capped clusters. Addition of excess disulfide to such clusters capped with both dialkyl sulfides and thiols leads to the appearance of sharp signals for free dialkyl sulfide and intact thiol. Amounts of thiols up to 50% of the ligand shell are, however, taken up by the clusters under rapid and irreversible loss of hydrogen.     

Ring Tension Applied to Thiol‐Mediated Cellular Uptake

The objective of the study was to explore the potential of ring tension in cyclic disulfides for thiol‐mediated cellular uptake. Fluorescent probes that cannot enter cells were equipped with cyclic disulfides of gradually increasing ring tension. As demonstrated by flow cytometry experiments, uptake into HeLa Kyoto cells increased with increasing tension. Differences in carbon‐sulfur‐sulfur‐carbon (CSSC) dihedral angles as small as 8° caused significant changes in uptake efficiency. Uptake with high ring tension was better than with inactivated or activated linear disulfides or with thiols. Conversion of thiols on the cell surface into sulfides and disulfides decreased the uptake. Reduction of exofacial disulfides into thiols increased the uptake of transporters with disulfides and inactivated controls with thiols. These results confirm the occurrence of dynamic covalent disulfide‐exchange chemistry on cell surfaces. Mechanistic and colocalization studies indicate that endocytosis does not fully account for this cellular uptake with ring tension.