Abstract:

As a new type of protein redox-based post-translational modification acting as a molecular switch for the modulation of protein functions, the protein methionine sulfoxidation not only acts as a biomarker of cellular oxidative stress, but also regulates redox signaling transductions, which is thus closely related to many diseases, especially neurodegenerative diseases. In many organisms, the only molecule known to reduce the methionine sulfoxide is methionine sulfoxide reductases(Msrs), which can repair the oxidation damage and recover the function of protein thus play important roles in cellular redox balance regulations. In this article, we will first discuss the structure and catalytic mechanism of protein methionine sulfoxide(MetO) and Msrs, then review the recently developed fluorescent probes for MetO/Msrs type A(MsrA), and give a brief prospect at the last.

Key words: methionine sulfoxide, oxidative stress, neurodegeneration diseases, methionine sulfoxide reductase, fluorescent probe