Cysteine Trisulfide Protects <i>E. coli</i> from Electrophile-Induced Death through the Generation of Cysteine Hydropersulfide
Catherine F. Henderson, Iris Bica, Faith T. Long, Drew Irwin, Christine H. Stull, Blaine Baker, Valeria Suarez Vega, Zachary M. Taugher, Eliza D. Fletes, Juliet M. Bartleson, Megan L. Humphrey, Lucı́a Álvarez, Masahiro Akiyama, Yoshito Kumagai, Jon M. Fukuto, Joseph Lin
Abstract
Hydropersulfide and polysulfide species have recently been shown to elicit a wide variety of biological and physiological responses. In this study, we examine the effects of cysteine trisulfide (Cys-SSS-Cys; also known as thiocystine) treatment on E. coli. Previous studies in mammalian cells have shown that Cys-SSS-Cys treatment results in protection from the electrophiles. Here, we show that the protective effect of Cys-SSS-Cys treatment against electrophile-induced cell death is conserved in E. coli. This protection correlates with the rapid generation of cysteine hydropersulfide (Cys-SSH) in the culture media. We go on to demonstrate that an exogenous phosphatase expressed in E. coli, containing only a single catalytic cysteine, is protected from electrophile-induced inactivation in the presence of hydropersulfides. These data together demonstrate that E. coli can utilize Cys-SSS-Cys to generate Cys-SSH and that the Cys-SSH can protect cellular thiols from reactivity with the electrophiles.