How cells work with 'Lego® bricks': New study reveals heterogeneity in peroxidases
Scientists at Saarland University, RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau, VIB-VUB Brussels and collaborating institutions have discovered that peroxiredoxins, important enzymes found in our cells, can combine in a more flexible way than was previously thought. This finding demonstrates how cells can generate molecular diversity and fine-tune stress responses.
Peroxiredoxins have protective and regulatory functions, controlling the levels of peroxide such as hydrogen peroxide. For over 20 years, researchers have assumed that these enzymes form complexes of ten identical protein units arranged in a donut-like structure. However, the recently published study shows that cells can instead mix two versions of the enzyme to form hybrid protein complexes.
By combining two building blocks with different properties, cells can form many different protein complexes, creating a wide variety of molecular structures and functions from just two building blocks. Using biochemical and imaging techniques, the researchers found that this mixing occurs in organisms ranging from yeast and humans to plants and parasites.
The researchers emphasize that this 'molecular Lego®' strategy could help cells to fine-tune their responses to stress and signaling pathways. Understanding how these mixed complexes work could provide new insights into how cells adapt to life with oxygen, and into the development of diseases involving an imbalance in cellular oxidation, including ageing, cancer, and metabolic disorders.
The study:
“Heterooligomerization drives structural plasticity of eukaryotic peroxiredoxins”, has been published in “Nature Chemical Biology”. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-026-02157-6
Scientific contacts:
Bruce Morgan
Institute for Biochemistry, Center of Human and Molecular Biology
Saarland University
E: bruce.morgan@uni-saarland.de
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Marcel Deponte
Comparative biochemistry, Department of Chemistry
RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau
E: deponte@rptu.de
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Joris Messens
VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology
Brussels
E: joris.messens@vub.be