The biological effects of oxidants, especially reactive oxygen species (ROS), include signaling functions (oxidative eustress), initiation of measures to reduce elevated ROS (oxidative stress), and a cascade of pathophysiological events that accompany excessive ROS (oxidative distress). Although these effects have long been studied in animal models with perturbed ROS, their actions under physiological conditions are less clear. I propose that some of the apparent uncertainty may be due to confusion of ROS with endogenously generated reactive sulfur species (RSS). ROS and RSS are chemically similar, but RSS are more reactive and versatile, and can be stored and reused. Both ROS and RSS signal via oxidation reactions with protein cysteine sulfur and they produce identical effector responses, but RSS appear to be more effective. RSS in the form of persulfidated cysteines (Cys-S-S) are produced endogenously and co-translationally introduced into proteins, and there is increasing evidence that many cellular proteins are persulfidated. A number of practical factors have contributed to confusion between ROS and RSS, and these are discussed herein. Furthermore, essentially all endogenous antioxidant enzymes appeared shortly after life began, some 3.8 billion years ago, when RSS metabolism dominated evolution. This was long before the rise in ROS, 600 million years ago, and I propose that these same enzymes, with only minor modifications, still effectively metabolize RSS in extant organisms. I am not suggesting that all ROS are RSS; however, I believe that the relative importance of ROS and RSS in biological systems needs further consideration.

Life is nothing but an electron looking for a place to rest.

     Albert Szent-Györgi

Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.

     Theodosius Dobzhansky

Life is created, regulated and sustained by reduction–oxidation (redox) reactions (see Glossary) that drive photosynthesis, respiration and most reactions in between. This depends to a large extent on initially having electrons out of balance, which requires energy. For many simple chemoautotrophs (see Glossary), the immediate environment provides this energy. The situation is more complex for larger organisms, for which this energy is provided almost completely by sunlight. Organisms that use oxygenic photosynthesis (see Glossary; mainly plants and cyanobacteria) use solar energy to pry electrons from water and force them into carbon dioxide, thereby producing reduced carbon and the building blocks of life, with oxygen essentially as a byproduct. Aerobic animals simply reverse this process in obligate symbiosis.

The importance of redox balance, i.e. the ‘redox code’ (Jones and Sies, 2015) and oxygen's abundance and proclivity for electrons is the foundation of the concept of oxidative stress (Sies et al., 2017). A slight excess of oxidants (see Glossary) is important in cellular signaling (eustress); however, additional oxidants (oxidative stress) initiate complex protective antioxidant reactions, and the pathophysiological processes that are initiated by excess reactive oxygen species (ROS; oxidative distress) so adversely affect cellular processes that they are catastrophic for cellular function (Sies et al., 2017). These properties, largely attributed to reactive oxygen species (ROS), have been ingrained in virtually all aspects of biology; an average of nearly 125 reviews with ‘reactive oxygen species’ in the title were published in 2017 and 2018. By late November of 2019 there were another 90 reviews (for a representative sample, see: Beltrán González et al., 2019; Cuevas et al., 2019; Damiano et al., 2019; Fan et al., 2019; Fisher et al., 2019; Huang and Li, 2019; Karki and Birukov, 2019; Kaushal et al., 2019; Momtahan et al., 2019; Munro and Pamenter, 2019; Onukwufor et al., 2019; Saikolappan et al., 2019; Tejero et al., 2019; Villamor et al., 2019; Weinberg et al., 2019; Yang, 2019; Zhang et al., 2019). Not surprisingly, there is also an increasing interest in ROS in signaling and physiology in plants (Foyer, 2018; Janků et al., 2019; Kurek et al., 2019; Leister, 2019; Mhamdi and van Breusegem, 2018; Waszczak et al., 2018).

As a natural consequence of the broad implications of ROS, there has been considerable interest in manipulating ROS to better understand homeostatic processes as well as to mitigate the adverse effects of excess ROS. As will be demonstrated in this Commentary, manipulating ROS is not as straightforward as it might seem (see Olson and Gao, 2019), and attempting to mitigate the adverse effects of ROS with antioxidants has had limited success (Alcala et al., 2018; Casas et al., 2015; Chiurchiù et al., 2016; de Vries et al., 2015; Edrey and Salmon, 2014; Gomez-Cabrera et al., 2015).

Is it possible that ROS are not the central players here? Might we even be looking at the wrong molecules? In this Commentary, I offer up another possibility. I propose that some of the attributes of ROS may be due to other, similar yet distinctly different molecules: reactive sulfur species (RSS). I do not attempt to claim that all activity attributed to ROS is a property of RSS. However, there are striking similarities between ROS and RSS in their chemistry, metabolism and signaling mechanisms that warrant consideration. Here, I also discuss technical and methodological problems that have led to confusion between ROS and RSS, and I offer several examples where homeostatic processes attributed to ROS can just as easily be explained by RSS. Finally, because ‘evolution explains biology’, I make the case that RSS have been inexorably intertwined with life from its origin to the present day. Aspects of severe ROS exposure (i.e. ROS distress), which is often artificially generated, are not considered.

Glossary

Allotrope

Different physical forms in which an element can exist.

Alpha effect

The effect of a neighboring (alpha) atom on the reactivity of the first atom.

Anoxygenic photosynthesis

Using solar energy to oxidize a molecule (e.g. H2S) without concomitant oxygen production.

Chalcogen

The oxygen ‘family’ elements in group 16 of the periodic table, including oxygen, sulfur, selenium, tellurium, polonium and livermorium.

Chemoautotroph

An organism that obtains energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds.

Electrophile

A compound that accepts two electrons to form a covalent bond.

Nucleophile

A compound that provides two electrons to form a covalent bond.

Oxidant

A chemical that gains electrons from another chemical.

Oxidation

Loss of electrons in a chemical reaction.

Oxidation state or oxidation number

A value given to an element in a compound, typically positive, negative or zero, e.g. the oxidation numbers of sulfur in H2S, SO2 and H2SO4 are −2, +4 and +6, respectively.

Oxygenic photosynthesis

Using solar energy to oxidize water to oxygen.

Peroxidation

Any oxidation reaction that produces a peroxide. In the context of this Commentary, it is oxidation of cysteine sulfur (CysSH) to form cysteine peroxide (CysSOH).

Persulfidation

Any oxidation reaction that produces a persulfide. In the context of this Commentary, it is oxidation of cysteine sulfur (CysSH) to form cysteine persulfide (CysSSH).

Reductant

A chemical that loses electrons to another chemical.

Reduction

Gain of electrons in a chemical reaction.

Reduction–oxidation (redox) reaction

A chemical reaction where electrons are transferred between two species and the oxidation number of a molecule, atom or ion changes by gaining or losing an electron.

Valence electron

An electron in an atom's outer shell capable of forming a chemical bond.

One reason why I believe that we should pay more attention to RSS is that oxygen and sulfur (and their associated reactive species) are chemically very similar; both oxygen and sulfur are chalcogens (see Glossary) with six valence electrons (see Glossary). Of course, there are differences between the two elements – oxygen is more electronegative than sulfur and its most common oxidation states (see Glossary) are −2 and 0 (molecular oxygen), but it also exists in less stable forms of −1, −1/2, +1 and +2. The oxidation states of sulfur range from −2 to +6, and sulfur has over 30 allotropes (see Glossary), whereas oxygen has fewer than 10. Sulfur is larger than oxygen (32 amu versus 16 amu). This means that the electrons of sulfur are farther from the positive nucleus and more ‘promiscuous’, i.e. electron transfer reactions are more favorable for sulfur than for oxygen.

Despite the differences between oxygen and sulfur, the chemical similarities between ROS and RSS are strikingly similar. Although there are multiple ‘ROS’ (Forman et al., 2015), in the context of this discussion and pertinent to most biological signaling, ROS are defined as the products of sequential one-electron reductions (see Glossary) of oxygen. They include superoxide (O2•−), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), the hydroxyl radical (HO) and water (Eqn 1):
formula
(1)
Superoxide can be considered as a signaling entity (Winterbourn, 2014); however, it rapidly dismutates to peroxide and oxygen, even in the absence of a catalyst, and – as an anion – it is relatively membrane impermeable. Peroxide, which is more stable and more membrane permeable, is generally believed to be the primary signaling ROS (Chouchani et al., 2016; Winterbourn, 2017). Hydroxyl radicals are too reactive to serve a signaling function.
Like ROS, there are a variety of RSS (Giles and Jacob, 2002; Jacob et al., 2004). In the context of the present discussion and for comparison with ROS, RSS are defined as those molecules produced from sequential one-electron oxidations (see Glossary) of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), thereby forming a thiyl radical (HS), hydrogen persulfide (H2S2) and the persulfide ‘supersulfide’ radical (HS2•−), before terminating in elemental sulfur (Eqn 2):
formula
(2)
S2 is generally assumed to cyclize to the stable and relatively insoluble S8, which is homologous to unstable ‘red oxygen’, O8 (Lundegaard et al., 2006). However, long polysulfide polymers, some containing thousands of sulfur atoms, have been found in certain algae (Gregersen et al., 2011); the ability of vertebrate cells to stabilize S above S8 remains to be thoroughly evaluated.

Overall, RSS tend to be more ‘versatile’ than ROS. Once produced, H2O2 is quickly removed by cellular antioxidant mechanisms (described below). By contrast, RSS may be ‘stored’ as a variety of inorganic or organic polysulfides. When sulfur is oxidized from the formal oxidation state of −2, as in H2S or cysteine sulfur (CysSH), to sulfane sulfur with a formal oxidation state of −1 or 0, it can be stored as an inorganic or organic persulfide or polysulfide of the form RS(n)R, where R is H or cysteine (CysS) and n=1–5 (e.g. hydrogen polysulfide, H2S3, H2S4, etc.), cysteine polysulfide (e.g. CysSSH, CysSSSH, CysSSSSH, CysSSSCys, CysSSSSCys) or glutathione (GSH) polysulfides [e.g. GSH(Sn)H, GSH(Sn)GSH] (Ida et al., 2014; Ono et al., 2014). H2S can be regenerated from these persulfides/polysulfides by cellular reductants (see Glossary; e.g. ascorbate or dihydrolipoic acid) or the sulfur may be transferred from one persulfide/polysulfide to another and can be reused as a signaling moiety. Thus, there is a large source and sink for RSS in cells. Furthermore, although H2S is also reactive, clearly H2O is not (see below). It should be noted that ROS and RSS could also be compared with reactive nitrogen species (RNS); however, such comparisons are beyond the scope of this discussion. For the interested reader, they are covered in the comprehensive review by Cortese-Krott et al. (2017).

The mechanisms of ROS and RSS signaling are identical; however, RSS signaling appears to be more extensive than ROS signaling, and may account for some effects that are commonly attributed to ROS. For example, both ROS and RSS signal through their reaction with protein cysteines. Cysteines constitute only ∼2% of the amino acids in vertebrate proteins, yet over 90% of proteins have at least one cysteine (Miseta and Csutora, 2000). Cysteine is one of the most highly conserved amino acids, to a large extent owing to the diverse and pivotal roles that it plays in various aspects of biology, including redox sensing, signaling, catalysis, the folding, processing and trafficking of proteins, protein–protein interactions, DNA and RNA binding, cell differentiation, cell cycling and circadian rhythms (Go et al., 2015). Key to the regulatory function of cysteine is its reversible redox reactivity; cysteine residues are often referred to as redox or sulfur switches (Jones and Sies, 2015).

The bulk of cysteine ROS signaling is believed to be mediated via peroxidation (see Glossary) (Sies, 2017; Winterbourn, 2017):
formula
(3)
However, these same cysteines can also undergo persulfidation (see Glossary) (Kimura, 2015; Nagy, 2015):
formula
(4)

Twenty-two proteins that can be either peroxidated or persulfidated have thus far been identified (Zhang et al., 2017). Although, experimentally, peroxidation and persulfidation are often attained with H2O2 or H2S2 concentrations that are probably supraphysiological, in the one instance where peroxidation and persulfidation were directly compared, H2S2 was far more effective at modifying the protein (Greiner et al., 2013). Fig. 1 (Meng et al., 2018) illustrates the number and variety of cysteine switches affected by RSS in the cardiovascular system. It is also believed that many proteins are persulfidated in vivo (see below), and there are likely to be considerably fewer endogenously peroxidated proteins.

Fig. 1.

The variety of potential persulfidation reactions and regulatory systems affected by H2S in the cardiovascular system. The sulfur regulatory sites are indicated in orange. Note: H2S, or the reactive sulfur, must be oxidized to a persulfide prior to activation. Adapted from Meng et al. (2018), with permission.

Fig. 1.

The variety of potential persulfidation reactions and regulatory systems affected by H2S in the cardiovascular system. The sulfur regulatory sites are indicated in orange. Note: H2S, or the reactive sulfur, must be oxidized to a persulfide prior to activation. Adapted from Meng et al. (2018), with permission.

As mentioned above, RSS signaling is more versatile and appears to be more extensive than ROS signaling. Peroxidative signaling is essentially ‘one and done’; the peroxide or peroxidated protein is reduced to water and is neither regenerated nor recycled, while the oxidized cysteine is resolved via one of the antioxidant peroxiredoxin (Prx), thioredoxin/thioredoxin reductase (Trx/TrxR) or glutaredoxin (Grx) pathways. The oxidized thiols are ultimately restored by NADPH with the net reaction (García-Santamarina et al., 2014):
formula
(5)
Conversely, the sulfur on persulfidated proteins can be removed via thiol exchange mechanisms:
formula
(6)
where R1 and R2 can be hydrogen or any of a number of small thiols such as cysteine (CysSH), glutathione (GSH) or 3-mercaptopyruvate (3-MPSH); this sulfur can then be stored, transported and recycled as a persulfide (e.g. GSSH, CysSSH, 3-MPSSH) or polysulfide (Sn, where n=3–7 or more, e.g. cysteine-Sn, 3-mercaptopyruvate-Sn, glutathione-Sn). Multiple sulfur molecules can be stored/transported on a single carrier, e.g. cysteine-S-S-S-SH (Fukuto et al., 2018). In addition, the Trx/TrxR pathway can also reduce persulfidated proteins using NADPH (Fig. 2), analogous to its restoration of peroxidated proteins; the glutathione/glutathione reductase (GSH/GSHR) pathway will do the same (Dóka et al., 2016). Furthermore, these persulfides and polysulfides can be either nucleophiles or electrophiles (see Glossary) depending to a large extent on whether they are anionic (RSS) or protonated (RSSH). As the number of sulfur atoms in a molecule increases, the molecule becomes more anionic (Kamyshny et al., 2003) and more reactive; H2S2 is a stronger reductant than H2S (Fukuto et al., 2018). Alpha effects (see Glossary) due to the nature of the ‘R’ group can further modify this reactivity. By contrast, the pKa of H2O2 is nearly 12, essentially eliminating the possibility that a reducing HO2 will participate in biological reactions.
Fig. 2.

Novel pathways for reactive sulfur species (RSS) metabolism, signalingand regulation. Cysteine (CysSH) is persulfidated by mitochondrial cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase (CARS2) in the mitochondrion to cysteine persulfide (CysSSH). CySSH can be reduced by electrons from the electron transport chain to form H2S, which helps sustain mitochondrial function, or it can be exported to the cytosol and persulfidated by cytosolic CARS (CARS1), thereby producing a variety of persulfidated cysteine molecules [CysS-S(S)n-H, where n=1–3] that can become part of the cellular polysulfide pool. CARS also affixes CysS-(S)n-H to tRNA so that it can be incorporated into proteins (yellow amino acid residue). The persulfidated protein cysteines can be reduced to CysSH and H2S by thioredoxin/thioredoxin reductase (Trx/TrxR) using NADPH as the electron donor, and they can possibly be regenerated by low molecular weight inorganic or organic polysulfides (R2S2). This can modify the function of a persulfidated regulatory protein and/or generate H2S in the cytosol. C, cytochrome c; I–IV, electron transport chain complexes I–IV; IMS, intermembrane space; Q, coenzyme Q; SQR, sulfur quinone oxidoreductase.

Fig. 2.

Novel pathways for reactive sulfur species (RSS) metabolism, signalingand regulation. Cysteine (CysSH) is persulfidated by mitochondrial cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase (CARS2) in the mitochondrion to cysteine persulfide (CysSSH). CySSH can be reduced by electrons from the electron transport chain to form H2S, which helps sustain mitochondrial function, or it can be exported to the cytosol and persulfidated by cytosolic CARS (CARS1), thereby producing a variety of persulfidated cysteine molecules [CysS-S(S)n-H, where n=1–3] that can become part of the cellular polysulfide pool. CARS also affixes CysS-(S)n-H to tRNA so that it can be incorporated into proteins (yellow amino acid residue). The persulfidated protein cysteines can be reduced to CysSH and H2S by thioredoxin/thioredoxin reductase (Trx/TrxR) using NADPH as the electron donor, and they can possibly be regenerated by low molecular weight inorganic or organic polysulfides (R2S2). This can modify the function of a persulfidated regulatory protein and/or generate H2S in the cytosol. C, cytochrome c; I–IV, electron transport chain complexes I–IV; IMS, intermembrane space; Q, coenzyme Q; SQR, sulfur quinone oxidoreductase.

One of the most exciting developments in this field is the study by Akaike et al. (2017), which was designed to explain numerous previous and puzzling observations that many protein cysteines in cells are persulfidated and polysulfidated. This paper showed that the enzyme cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase (CARS) acts as a cysteine persulfide synthase (CPERS) and catalyzes the transfer of sulfur from one l-cysteine to another, thereby forming a cysteine hydropersulfide (CysSSH; Fig. 2). This process can be repeated, ultimately generating CysSSSH and CysSSSSH, i.e. CysS-(S)n-H, where n=1–3. CARS also catalyzes the incorporation of CysS-(S)n-H into tRNA so that it can subsequently be incorporated into proteins. Thus, cysteine persulfides and polysulfides can be introduced into proteins co-translationally, and these modifications will be retained in the mature protein.

A single CARS is present in bacteria, whereas mammals have two forms, one cytoplasmic (CARS1) and one mitochondrial (CARS2). CARS2 is responsible for most, if not all, of the cysteine persulfidation in mice, as persulfidation is halved in heterozygous animals (Cars2+/−) (Akaike et al., 2017). Complete deletion of CARS2 (Cars2−/−) is fatal, and the effect on protein sulfur is unknown. CysSSH and CysS-(S)n-H are synthesized by CARS2 in the mitochondria, and CySSH is then preferentially released into the cytosol, where it can be further persulfidated and, ultimately, incorporated into proteins. CARS2-derived persulfide also enhances mitochondrial biogenesis and is linked to the electron transport chain. Although CARS2 synthesizes mostly CysSSH and CysSSSH in buffer, in HEK293 cells it appears to preferentially form HS/H2S and thiosulfate by accepting an electron from the electron transport chain, which reduces the polysulfide; however, this needs further verification. The function of extensively polysulfidated proteins in the cell remains to be determined, although it is clear that, in conjunction with the Trx/TrxR and GSH/GSHR pathways, cells have potent oxidoreductase mechanisms for regulating protein cysteine RSS.

As described above, both the Trx/TrxR and GSH/GSHR pathways reduce persulfidated proteins analogous to their action on peroxidated proteins. We recently began to investigate RSS metabolism and the evidence suggests that most (if not all) antioxidant mechanisms found in modern organisms also metabolize H2S or polysulfides. Both superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (Cat) oxidize the conversion of H2S to polysulfides in buffer in the presence of an oxidant, and in hypoxia Cat reverses this process and generates H2S from Trx and NADPH (Olson et al., 2017a,b). The oxygen tension at which Cat switches from an oxidase that catabolizes H2S to a reductase that produces H2S is nearly identical to the P50 for oxyhemoglobin. This suggests a physiological function for Cat in matching perfusion with metabolism, as Cat removes vasodilatory H2S in red blood cells when tissues are normoxic and produces H2S when the tissues become hypoxic.

We also examined RSS metabolism in HEK293 cells exposed to inhibitors of other antioxidant pathways (Olson and Gao, 2019). We used a number of chemicals that are commonly employed to increase intracellular H2O2. These included auranofin (Aur), a thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) and glutathione reductase (GSHR) inhibitor (Rodman et al., 2016; Saccoccia et al., 2014), conoidin A (ConA), a peroxiredoxin (Prx) inhibitor (Haraldsen et al., 2009), tiopronin (Tio), an inhibitor of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and cystine (CSSC) uptake (Chaudiere et al., 1984; Hall et al., 2014), l-buthionine-sulfoximine (BSO) and diethyl maleate (DEM). BSO and DEM also deplete intracellular GSH; however, BSO decreases intracellular Cys whereas DEM increases it (Albano et al., 2015). We found that Aur, BSO, DEM and ConA increased cellular H2S, whereas Tiop decreased it; Aur initially decreased, then increased polysulfides, ConA increased polysulfides, whereas BSO, DEM and Tiop had no effect. Thus, although the inhibitors may affect other cellular processes as well, and our experiments need to be confirmed with more selective inhibitors, the results appear to suggest that (1) RSS metabolism is distinct from, and independent of, ROS metabolism and (2) antioxidant mechanisms commonly attributed to ROS regulation are involved in sulfur metabolism in extant organisms.

It is also worth noting that the calculated production rates of ROS and RSS are similar, whether determined from estimates of ROS and RSS in an adult human (DeLeon et al., 2016) or ROS and RSS production in individual HEK293 cells (Olson et al., 2019a). However, because of methodological difficulty in distinguishing between ROS and RSS (described below), RSS production may exceed production of ROS.

In addition to the factors discussed above, there are a number of considerations relating to the research process that may lead us to underestimate the biological importance of RSS. These include the fact that most research is oxycentric, and is performed using tools that do not distinguish between RSS and ROS. Furthermore, research tends to focus on murine models (especially in the biomedical field).

Historically, most biological and biochemical research was (and still is) conducted in room air, i.e. ∼20.9 kPa oxygen or 18.5 kPa O2 in standard tissue incubators. This is close to 200 μmol l−1 O2 – four times higher than ‘physioxia’ in most cells and as much as 200 times greater than that in the mitochondria (Keeley and Mann, 2019; Olson, 2019; Ward, 2007). Measurement of mitochondrial metabolism at 18.5 kPa, which is still done with some of the most expensive equipment, implicitly favors ROS. Even the term ‘oxidation’ reflects this bias, as it is a chemical term, whereas ‘reduction’ is a mathematical connotation. Because of their chemistries, oxygen and sulfide do not co-exist, either in cells or in the environment; it is not surprising that ROS are artificially increased in experimental conditions flooded with oxygen (Maddalena et al., 2017) and that RSS are scarce.

Another issue to consider when discussing research factors that influence our understanding of RSS is the fact that RSS may be mistaken for ROS. ROS fluorescent probes are not only non-specific for other ROS (Kalyanaraman et al., 2012) but also may have difficulty distinguishing between ROS and RSS (DeLeon et al., 2016). For example, redox-sensitive green fluorescent protein (roGFP), arguably the gold standard for ROS measurement in different intracellular compartments (Cannon and Remington, 2008; Schwarzländer et al., 2015; Waypa et al., 2010), is 200 times more sensitive to RSS than it is to ROS. Amperometric H2O2 ‘specific’ electrodes are over 24 times more sensitive to H2S than to H2O2, and RSS are also detected by dichlorofluorescein (DCF), MitoSox Red and Amplex Red. DCF is especially problematic, as it is also readily oxidized by Cat. These discrepancies not only lead to confusion in separating ROS from RSS but also can lead to errors in estimating metabolic production.

A final factor that may affect our understanding of RSS biology is the nearly exclusive use of murine models to investigate human health, as this may bias estimates of ROS production in other organisms. Small rodents with extraordinarily high mass-specific oxygen consumption may indeed produce a lot of ROS, but are these typical animals? Kroghian principals need to be applied to examine animals with more typical levels of oxygen consumption, including hypoxia-tolerant animals, fetal mammals and organisms that inhabit unusual, inaccessible and extreme environments. And, of course, these studies need to be conducted under physioxic conditions. We know so little of what really constitutes ‘life’. It has been estimated that we have discovered only 14% of eukaryotic species and only 0.001% of microbial species (Locey and Lennon, 2016; Mora et al., 2011), most likely because many are hiding in inaccessible and anoxic environs. It is from these that we can hope to get a better idea of the relative roles of ROS and RSS in metabolism and signaling.

Signaling by RSS may explain some effector responses that are commonly attributed to ROS. Being able to substitute persulfidation for peroxidation on cysteines that are involved in regulatory functions, as shown in Fig. 1, is strong evidence that RSS signaling can easily mediate effector responses historically attributed to ROS. There are numerous examples of this, and I will illustrate my point with three: oxygen sensing, ROS/RSS metabolism by SOD mimetics, and the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway.

Oxygen sensing

Although there are a number of proposed oxygen-sensing mechanisms, an increase in ROS under hypoxic conditions has historically been one of the most prominent (Sylvester et al., 2012). In this hypothesis (Fig. 3, top panels), hypoxia prevents the reduction of oxygen to water at complex IV, and the resultant increase in H2O2 initiates downstream effector responses. In the RSS hypothesis (Fig. 3, bottom panels), hypoxia prevents H2S catabolism, and the resultant increase in H2S2 initiates downstream effector responses (Olson, 2015). Thus, both mechanisms can be explained by an initial effect of hypoxia on complex IV and SOD-mediated production of the signaling moiety.

Fig. 3.

Comparison of mitochondrial oxygen-sensing mechanisms mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and RSS. In the ROS hypothesis (top), hypoxia prevents the reduction of oxygen to water at complex IV. As electrons begin to back up along the electron transport chain (ETC) they leak from complex I and III into the matrix, where they react with oxygen to form superoxide (O2•−). The superoxide is then dismuted by superoxide dismutase (SOD) to peroxide (H2O2) and O2, and the H2O2 signals downstream effector responses. In the RSS hypothesis (bottom), during normoxia, H2S generated from either cysteine or cysteine persulfide catabolism donates electrons to the ETC via sulfur quinone oxidoreductase (SQR); H2S is oxidized to thiosulfate, then sulfate (H2SO4), and excreted. As with the ROS hypothesis, hypoxia disrupts electron flow, but this prevents H2S oxidation; as H2S begins to accumulate, it is oxidized by SOD to polysulfides (H2S2), and the H2S2 signals downstream effector responses. C, cytochrome c; I–IV, ETC complexes I–IV; IMS, intermembrane space; Q, coenzyme Q.

Fig. 3.

Comparison of mitochondrial oxygen-sensing mechanisms mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and RSS. In the ROS hypothesis (top), hypoxia prevents the reduction of oxygen to water at complex IV. As electrons begin to back up along the electron transport chain (ETC) they leak from complex I and III into the matrix, where they react with oxygen to form superoxide (O2•−). The superoxide is then dismuted by superoxide dismutase (SOD) to peroxide (H2O2) and O2, and the H2O2 signals downstream effector responses. In the RSS hypothesis (bottom), during normoxia, H2S generated from either cysteine or cysteine persulfide catabolism donates electrons to the ETC via sulfur quinone oxidoreductase (SQR); H2S is oxidized to thiosulfate, then sulfate (H2SO4), and excreted. As with the ROS hypothesis, hypoxia disrupts electron flow, but this prevents H2S oxidation; as H2S begins to accumulate, it is oxidized by SOD to polysulfides (H2S2), and the H2S2 signals downstream effector responses. C, cytochrome c; I–IV, ETC complexes I–IV; IMS, intermembrane space; Q, coenzyme Q.

SOD mimetics

A number of porphyrin–metal compounds have been synthesized with manganese in the center and modifications of the porphyrins, such that these compounds are extremely efficient SOD mimetics. Three of these, the manganese–porphyrins (MnPs) MnTE-2-PyP5+ (MnTE, AEOL10113, BMX-010), MnTnHex-2-PyP5+ (MnHex) and MnTnBuOE-2-PyP5+ (MnBuOE, BMX-001), are in clinical or pre-clinical trials (Batinic-Haberle and Tome, 2019; Batinic-Haberle et al., 2018). Their efficacy has, paradoxically, been attributed to their ability to redox cycle between oxygen and intracellular reductants such as ascorbate; in doing so, they generate hydrogen peroxide. This hydrogen peroxide then creates oxidative stress that initiates antioxidant responses, which convey cytoprotective effects to healthy cells and are cytotoxic to malignant cells (Batinic-Haberle and Tome, 2019; Batinic-Haberle et al., 2018). Given the SOD mimetic activity of these compounds, we reasoned that they might also metabolize RSS and, indeed, this is the case. We found that all three MnPs oxidize H2S to polysulfides, first forming H2S2 and later H2S3–6 (Olson et al., 2019b). Therefore, the effects of the MnPs could also be attributed to the generation of RSS.

Keap1/Nrf2 pathway

It is generally accepted that a moderate increase in oxidative stress increases cellular ‘antioxidant’ defense mechanisms, and that this is mediated to a large extent by nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) activation of antioxidant response elements (ARE) in the nucleus (Motohashi and Yamamoto, 2004). Nrf2 is activated after it is released from Keap1 (Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1) by peroxidation of Keap1 Cys151 in the cytoplasm, allowing Nrf2 to translocate to the nucleus and activate the ARE. Persulfidation of Cyc151 on Keap1 also frees Nrf2, allowing it to translocate to the nucleus and also activate ARE (Guo et al., 2014; Hourihan et al., 2013; Yang et al., 2013). I think one must wonder, given the various effects of antioxidant enzymes in RSS metabolism described above, how much of the Nrf2–Keap1 system actually regulates RSS.

The evolutionary legacy of RSS can explain the importance of sulfur in the origin of life as well as its importance in extant organisms (Fig. 4; Olson and Straub, 2016; Olson, 2018). H2S emanating from Earth's fissures provided the energy, catalysts, membrane prototypes and chemical backbone for life at its beginning in an anoxic world some 3.8 billion years ago (bya). It is likely that H2S was the first substrate in anoxygenic photosynthesis (see Glossary) shortly thereafter, and the biochemical tools developed to run the reaction:
formula
(7)
(where hν represents photon energy) probably required minor tweaking for oxygenic photosynthesis:
formula
(8)
Fig. 4.

Milestones in the contribution of sulfur and oxygen to evolution. (1) Life began in an anoxic ferrous ocean approximately 3.8 billion years ago (bya). The first organisms were likely to have been sulfur chemolithotrophs. (2) Anoxygenic photosynthesis appeared within several hundred million years, arguably with H2S reducing carbon dioxide to organic carbon; in the process, sulfur was oxidized to polysulfides and elemental sulfur. (3) Enzymatic pathways established for H2S-coupled photosynthesis were finally modified to oxidize H2O instead of H2S. This occurred in cyanobacteria after the efficiency of light-gathering antennae increased. (4) Oxygenic photosynthesis produced periodic small increases in atmospheric O2 heralded as the ‘great oxidation event’ (GOE). (5) The small increases in atmospheric oxygen oxidized the sulfur on land to sulfate, which was then washed to the sea. The reducing ocean then reduced sulfate back to H2S. This formed massive anoxic and sulfidic (euxinic) areas. (6) Eukaryotes first appeared approximately 1.5 bya in this environment. (7) Plants appeared shortly thereafter, but, with the exception of small ‘oxic oases’, the next billion years of evolution continued in relative anoxia. (8) Six hundred million years ago both the iron and H2S in the oceans became oxidized and both oceanic and atmospheric oxygen levels increased toward modern-day levels. (9) This presumably led to the development of sophisticated antioxidant mechanisms to detoxify the bourgeoning production of oxygen and ROS, the ‘ox–tox’ hypothesis. (10) However, these antioxidant mechanisms preceded the rise in oceanic and atmospheric oxygen by some 2 billion years and I posit that they evolved to deal with RSS. I also propose that this biochemical armamentarium that appeared early on in evolution was not only easily repurposed to deal with ROS but also may contribute to an array of RSS-mediated signaling and detoxification processes in extant organisms. The lower graph shows the ocean environment and the life that developed therein over the course of evolution. Adapted with permission from Olson and Straub (2016).

Fig. 4.

Milestones in the contribution of sulfur and oxygen to evolution. (1) Life began in an anoxic ferrous ocean approximately 3.8 billion years ago (bya). The first organisms were likely to have been sulfur chemolithotrophs. (2) Anoxygenic photosynthesis appeared within several hundred million years, arguably with H2S reducing carbon dioxide to organic carbon; in the process, sulfur was oxidized to polysulfides and elemental sulfur. (3) Enzymatic pathways established for H2S-coupled photosynthesis were finally modified to oxidize H2O instead of H2S. This occurred in cyanobacteria after the efficiency of light-gathering antennae increased. (4) Oxygenic photosynthesis produced periodic small increases in atmospheric O2 heralded as the ‘great oxidation event’ (GOE). (5) The small increases in atmospheric oxygen oxidized the sulfur on land to sulfate, which was then washed to the sea. The reducing ocean then reduced sulfate back to H2S. This formed massive anoxic and sulfidic (euxinic) areas. (6) Eukaryotes first appeared approximately 1.5 bya in this environment. (7) Plants appeared shortly thereafter, but, with the exception of small ‘oxic oases’, the next billion years of evolution continued in relative anoxia. (8) Six hundred million years ago both the iron and H2S in the oceans became oxidized and both oceanic and atmospheric oxygen levels increased toward modern-day levels. (9) This presumably led to the development of sophisticated antioxidant mechanisms to detoxify the bourgeoning production of oxygen and ROS, the ‘ox–tox’ hypothesis. (10) However, these antioxidant mechanisms preceded the rise in oceanic and atmospheric oxygen by some 2 billion years and I posit that they evolved to deal with RSS. I also propose that this biochemical armamentarium that appeared early on in evolution was not only easily repurposed to deal with ROS but also may contribute to an array of RSS-mediated signaling and detoxification processes in extant organisms. The lower graph shows the ocean environment and the life that developed therein over the course of evolution. Adapted with permission from Olson and Straub (2016).

However, the appearance of oxygenic photosynthesis was delayed for over a billion years because the light-gathering antennae of cyanobacteria were not able to capture enough energy to oxidize water. From 2.3 billion years onwards, atmospheric O2 would episodically rise (to ∼1%) and fall, while the oceans remained essentially anoxic; it was under these conditions that the first eukaryotic organisms appeared 1.5 bya. It took until 0.6 bya for the oceans to finally become oxic. The oxidation of the oceans is suggested to have been the greatest threat to life's existence. This idea, the ox–tox hypothesis, states that organisms existing at this time developed sophisticated antioxidant defenses, retreated to anoxic environs or died (Jones and Sies, 2015; Kurland and Andersson, 2000). The problem with these ideas, as I see it, is that all these antioxidant defense mechanisms – the enzymes SOD and Cat, and the NADPH-dependent catalytic reduction cascades involving Prx, Trx/TrxR and Grx/GrxR – appeared around the time of anoxygenic photosynthesis ∼3.6 bya (Dibrova et al., 2013; Grace, 1990; Hanschmann et al., 2013; Inupakutika et al., 2016; Knoops et al., 2007; Lu and Holmgren, 2014; Miller, 2012; Novoselov and Gladyshev, 2003; Zhang and Weissbach, 2008), when they would have been useful for dealing with RSS, not ROS. Given the chemical similarities between RSS and ROS described above, only minimal adjustments would have been needed for these antioxidant pathways to adapt to the latter; furthermore, these pathways may have retained the capacity to metabolize RSS, and may still do so in extant organisms.

The similarities between ROS and RSS, from the perspective of their chemistry (oxygen and sulfur), their signaling mediators (H2O2 and H2S2) and their biological targets are striking. This can blur the distinction between ROS and RSS, and it is further confounded by a number of practical methodological considerations involving ROS and RSS detection, the conditions under which the experiments are performed and the organisms involved. Collectively, these factors are so striking that we must take a step back to gain a better perspective of what is actually going on.

Arguably, the most important tenet of comparative physiology is the Krogh principle: ‘For such a large number of problems there will be some animal of choice, or a few such animals, on which it can be most conveniently studied’. The limitation of this philosophy, as I see it, is that it first requires a problem. For those investigators in the ROS field it seems that the problem has been identified; it is ROS, so let's look everywhere for it. I see an inherent danger in this approach; do we see what we are looking at, or what we are looking for? I think this is especially relevant when thinking about ROS and RSS. I hope this Commentary gives comparative physiologists ‘something different to look for’ with respect to the chemical identity of the real reactive species involved, how these species are regulated under physiological conditions, and how they interact with homeostatic effector systems in a variety of organisms. I think this is one of the biggest challenges in physiology and one of the greatest opportunities for comparative physiologists.

K.R.O. wishes to acknowledge the numerous colleagues and students who have contributed to this research.

Funding

K.R.O.’s work has been supported by National Science Foundation grants IBN 0235223, IOS 0641436, IOS 1051627 and IOS 1446310 and by an Indiana University BRG grant.

Akaike
,
T.
,
Ida
,
T.
,
Wei
,
F.-Y.
,
Nishida
,
M.
,
Kumagai
,
Y.
,
Alam
,
M. M.
,
Ihara
,
H.
,
Sawa
,
T.
,
Matsunaga
,
T.
,
Kasamatsu
,
S.
, et al. 
(
2017
).
Cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase governs cysteine polysulfidation and mitochondrial bioenergetics
.
Nat. Commun.
8
,
1
-
15
.
Albano
,
R.
,
Raddatz
,
N. J.
,
Hjelmhaug
,
J.
,
Baker
,
D. A.
and
Lobner
,
D.
(
2015
).
Regulation of System xc(−) by pharmacological manipulation of cellular Thiols
.
Oxid. Med. Cell Longev.
2015
,
269371
.
Alcala
,
M.
,
Gutierrez-Vega
,
S.
,
Castro
,
E.
,
Guzman-Gutiérrez
,
E.
,
Ramos-Álvarez
,
M. P.
and
Viana
,
M.
(
2018
).
Antioxidants and oxidative stress: focus in obese pregnancies
.
Front. Physiol.
9
,
1
-
10
.
Batinic-Haberle
,
I.
and
Tome
,
M. E.
(
2019
).
Thiol regulation by Mn porphyrins, commonly known as SOD mimics
.
Redox. Biol.
25
,
101139
.
Batinic-Haberle
,
I.
,
Tovmasyan
,
A.
and
Spasojevic
,
I.
(
2018
).
Mn porphyrin-based redox-active drugs – differential effects as cancer therapeutics and protectors of normal tissue against oxidative injury
.
Antioxid Redox Signal.
Beltrán González
,
A. N.
,
López Pazos
,
M. I.
and
Calvo
,
D. J.
(
2019
).
Reactive oxygen species in the regulation of the GABA mediated inhibitory neurotransmission
.
Neuroscience
.
Cannon
,
M. B.
and
Remington
,
S. J.
(
2008
).
Redox-sensitive green fluorescent protein: probes for dynamic intracellular redox responses. A review
.
Methods Mol. Biol
476
,
50
-
64
.
Casas
,
A. I.
,
Dao
,
V. T.-V.
,
Daiber
,
A.
,
Maghzal
,
G. J.
,
Di Lisa
,
F.
,
Kaludercic
,
N.
,
Leach
,
S.
,
Cuadrado
,
A.
,
Jaquet
,
V.
,
Seredenina
,
T.
, et al. 
(
2015
).
Reactive oxygen-related diseases: therapeutic targets and emerging clinical indications
.
Antioxid Redox Signal.
23
,
1171
-
1185
.
Chaudiere
,
J.
,
Wilhelmsen
,
E. C.
and
Tappel
,
A. L.
(
1984
).
Mechanism of selenium-glutathione peroxidase and its inhibition by mercaptocarboxylic acids and other mercaptans
.
J. Biol. Chem.
259
,
1043
-
1050
.
Chiurchiù
,
V.
,
Orlacchio
,
A.
and
Maccarrone
,
M.
(
2016
).
Is modulation of oxidative stress an answer? The state of the art of redox therapeutic actions in neurodegenerative diseases
.
Oxid. Med. Cell Longev.
2016
,
7909380
.
Chouchani
,
E. T.
,
Pell
,
V. R.
,
James
,
A. M.
,
Work
,
L. M.
,
Saeb-Parsy
,
K.
,
Frezza
,
C.
,
Krieg
,
T.
and
Murphy
,
M. P.
(
2016
).
A Unifying mechanism for mitochondrial superoxide production during Ischemia-reperfusion injury
.
Cell Metab.
23
,
254
-
263
.
Cortese-Krott
,
M. M.
,
Koning
,
A.
,
Kuhnle
,
G. G. C.
,
Nagy
,
P.
,
Bianco
,
C. L.
,
Pasch
,
A.
,
Wink
,
D. A.
,
Fukuto
,
J. M.
,
Jackson
,
A. A.
,
van Goor
,
H.
, et al. 
(
2017
).
The reactive species interactome: evolutionary emergence, biological significance, and opportunities for redox metabolomics and personalized medicine
.
Antioxid Redox Signal.
27
,
684
-
712
.
Cuevas
,
S.
,
Villar
,
V. A. M.
and
Jose
,
P. A.
(
2019
).
Genetic polymorphisms associated with reactive oxygen species and blood pressure regulation
.
Pharmacogenomics J.
19
,
315
-
336
.
Damiano
,
S.
,
Muscariello
,
E.
,
La Rosa
,
G.
,
Di Maro
,
M.
,
Mondola
,
P.
and
Santillo
,
M.
(
2019
).
Dual role of reactive oxygen species in muscle function: can antioxidant dietary supplements counteract age-related Sarcopenia?
Int. J. Mol. Sci.
20
,
3815
.
de Vries
,
D. K.
,
Kortekaas
,
K. A.
,
Tsikas
,
D.
,
Wijermars
,
L. G. M.
,
van Noorden
,
C. J. F.
,
Suchy
,
M.-T.
,
Cobbaert
,
C. M.
,
Klautz
,
R. J.
,
Schaapherder
,
A. F. M.
and
Lindeman
,
J. H. N.
(
2013
).
Oxidative damage in clinical ischemia/reperfusion injury: a reappraisal
.
Antioxid Redox Signal.
19
,
535
-
545
.
Deleon
,
E. R.
,
Gao
,
Y.
,
Huang
,
E.
,
Arif
,
M.
,
Arora
,
N.
,
Divietro
,
A.
,
Patel
,
S.
and
Olson
,
K. R.
(
2016
).
A case of mistaken identity: are reactive oxygen species actually reactive sulfide species?
Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol.
310
,
R549
-
R560
.
Dibrova
,
D. V.
,
Cherepanov
,
D. A.
,
Galperin
,
M. Y.
,
Skulachev
,
V. P.
and
Mulkidjanian
,
A. Y.
(
2013
).
Evolution of cytochrome bc complexes: from membrane-anchored dehydrogenases of ancient bacteria to triggers of apoptosis in vertebrates
.
Biochim. Biophys. Acta
1827
,
1407
-
1427
.
Dóka
,
E.
,
Pader
,
I.
,
Bíró
,
A.
,
Johansson
,
K.
,
Cheng
,
Q.
,
Ballagó
,
K.
,
Prigge
,
J. R.
,
Pastor-Flores
,
D.
,
Dick
,
T. P.
,
Schmidt
,
E. E.
, et al. 
(
2016
).
A novel persulfide detection method reveals protein persulfide- and polysulfide-reducing functions of thioredoxin and glutathione systems
.
Sci. Adv.
2
,
e1500968
.
Edrey
,
Y. H.
and
Salmon
,
A. B.
(
2014
).
Revisiting an age-old question regarding oxidative stress
.
Free Radic. Biol. Med.
71
,
368
-
378
.
Fan
,
P.
,
Xie
,
X.-H.
,
Chen
,
C.-H.
,
Peng
,
X.
,
Zhang
,
P.
,
Yang
,
C.
and
Wang
,
Y.-T.
(
2019
).
Molecular regulation mechanisms and interactions between reactive oxygen species and mitophagy
.
DNA Cell Biol.
38
,
10
-
22
.
Fisher
,
J. J.
,
Bartho
,
L. A.
,
Perkins
,
A. V.
and
Holland
,
O. J.
(
2019
).
Placental mitochondria and reactive oxygen species in the physiology and pathophysiology of pregnancy
.
Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol.
47
,
176
-
184
.
Forman
,
H. J.
,
Augusto
,
O.
,
Brigelius-Flohe
,
R.
,
Dennery
,
P. A.
,
Kalyanaraman
,
B.
,
Ischiropoulos
,
H.
,
Mann
,
G. E.
,
Radi
,
R.
,
Roberts
,
L. J.
,
Vina
,
J.
, et al. 
(
2015
).
Even free radicals should follow some rules: a Guide to free radical research terminology and methodology
.
Free Radic. Biol. Med
78
,
233
-
235
.
Foyer
,
C. H.
(
2018
).
Reactive oxygen species, oxidative signaling and the regulation of photosynthesis
.
Environ. Exp. Bot.
154
,
134
-
142
.
Fukuto
,
J. M.
,
Ignarro
,
L. J.
,
Nagy
,
P.
,
Wink
,
D. A.
,
Kevil
,
C. G.
,
Feelisch
,
M.
,
Cortese-Krott
,
M. M.
,
Bianco
,
C. L.
,
Kumagai
,
Y.
,
Hobbs
,
A. J.
, et al. 
(
2018
).
Biological hydropersulfides and related polysulfides - a new concept and perspective in redox biology
.
FEBS Lett.
592
,
2140
-
2152
.
García-Santamarina
,
S.
,
Boronat
,
S.
and
Hidalgo
,
E.
(
2014
).
Reversible cysteine oxidation in hydrogen peroxide sensing and signal transduction
.
Biochemistry
53
,
2560
-
2580
.
Giles
,
G. I.
and
Jacob
,
C.
(
2002
).
Reactive sulfur species: an emerging concept in oxidative stress
.
Biol. Chem.
383
,
375
-
388
.
Go
,
Y.-M.
,
Chandler
,
J. D.
and
Jones
,
D. P.
(
2015
).
The cysteine proteome
.
Free Radic. Biol. Med.
84
,
227
-
245
.
Gomez-Cabrera
,
M. C.
,
Salvador-Pascual
,
A.
,
Cabo
,
H.
,
Ferrando
,
B.
and
Viña
,
J.
(
2015
).
Redox modulation of mitochondriogenesis in exercise. Does antioxidant supplementation blunt the benefits of exercise training?
Free Radic. Biol. Med.
86
,
37
-
46
.
Grace
,
S. C.
(
1990
).
Phylogenetic distribution of superoxide dismutase supports an endosymbiotic origin for chloroplasts and mitochondria
.
Life Sci.
47
,
1875
-
1886
.
Gregersen
,
L. H.
,
Bryant
,
D. A.
and
Frigaard
,
N.-U.
(
2011
).
Mechanisms and evolution of oxidative sulfur metabolism in green sulfur bacteria
.
Front. Microbiol.
2
,
116
.
Greiner
,
R.
,
Pálinkás
,
Z.
,
Bäsell
,
K.
,
Becher
,
D.
,
Antelmann
,
H.
,
Nagy
,
P.
and
Dick
,
T. P.
(
2013
).
Polysulfides link H2S to protein thiol oxidation
.
Antioxid. Redox Signal.
19
,
1749
-
1765
.
Guo
,
C.
,
Liang
,
F. L.
,
Shah Masood
,
W.
and
Yan
,
X.
(
2014
).
Hydrogen sulfide protected gastric epithelial cell from ischemia/reperfusion injury by Keap1 s-sulfhydration, MAPK dependent anti-apoptosis and NF-kappaB dependent anti-inflammation pathway
.
Eur. J. Pharmacol.
725
,
70
-
78
.
Hall
,
M. D.
,
Marshall
,
T. S.
,
Kwit
,
A. D. T.
,
Miller Jenkins
,
L. M.
,
Dulcey
,
A. E.
,
Madigan
,
J. P.
,
Pluchino
,
K. M.
,
Goldsborough
,
A. S.
,
Brimacombe
,
K. R.
,
Griffiths
,
G. L.
, et al. 
(
2014
).
Inhibition of glutathione peroxidase mediates the collateral sensitivity of multidrug-resistant cells to tiopronin
.
J. Biol. Chem.
289
,
21473
-
21489
.
Hanschmann
,
E.-M.
,
Godoy
,
J. R.
,
Berndt
,
C.
,
Hudemann
,
C.
and
Lillig
,
C. H.
(
2013
).
Thioredoxins, glutaredoxins, and peroxiredoxins—molecular mechanisms and health significance: from cofactors to antioxidants to redox signaling
.
Antioxid. Redox. Signal.
19
,
1539
-
1605
.
Haraldsen
,
J. D.
,
Liu
,
G.
,
Botting
,
C. H.
,
Walton
,
J. G. A.
,
Storm
,
J.
,
Phalen
,
T. J.
,
Kwok
,
L. Y.
,
Soldati-Favre
,
D.
,
Heintz
,
N. H.
,
Müller
,
S.
, et al. 
(
2009
).
Identification of conoidin a as a covalent inhibitor of peroxiredoxin II
.
Org. Biomol. Chem.
7
,
3040
-
3048
.
Hourihan
,
J. M.
,
Kenna
,
J. G.
and
Hayes
,
J. D.
(
2013
).
The gasotransmitter hydrogen sulfide induces nrf2-target genes by inactivating the keap1 ubiquitin ligase substrate adaptor through formation of a disulfide bond between cys-226 and cys-613
.
Antioxid Redox Signal.
19
,
465
-
481
.
Huang
,
M.-Z.
and
Li
,
J.-Y.
(
2019
).
Physiological regulation of reactive oxygen species in organisms based on their physicochemical properties
.
Acta Physiol. (Oxf.)
228
,
e13351
.
Ida
,
T.
,
Sawa
,
T.
,
Ihara
,
H.
,
Tsuchiya
,
Y.
,
Watanabe
,
Y.
,
Kumagai
,
Y.
,
Suematsu
,
M.
,
Motohashi
,
H.
,
Fujii
,
S.
,
Matsunaga
,
T.
, et al. 
(
2014
).
Reactive cysteine persulfides and S-polythiolation regulate oxidative stress and redox signaling
.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
111
,
7606
-
7611
.
Inupakutika
,
M. A.
,
Sengupta
,
S.
,
Devireddy
,
A. R.
,
Azad
,
R. K.
and
Mittler
,
R.
(
2016
).
The evolution of reactive oxygen species metabolism
.
J. Exp. Bot.
67
,
5933
-
5943
.
Jacob
,
C.
,
Lancaster
,
J. R.
and
Giles
,
G. I.
(
2004
).
Reactive sulphur species in oxidative signal transduction
.
Biochem. Soc. Trans.
32
,
1015
-
1017
.
Janků
,
M.
,
Luhová
,
L.
and
Petrivalský
,
M.
(
2019
).
On the origin and fate of reactive oxygen species in plant cell compartments
.
Antioxidants
8
,
105
.
Jones
,
D. P.
and
Sies
,
H.
(
2015
).
The redox code
.
Antioxid Redox Signal.
23
,
734
-
746
.
Kalyanaraman
,
B.
,
Darley-Usmar
,
V.
,
Davies
,
K. J. A.
,
Dennery
,
P. A.
,
Forman
,
H. J.
,
Grisham
,
M. B.
,
Mann
,
G. E.
,
Moore
,
K.
,
Roberts
,
L. J.
and
Ischiropoulos
,
H.
(
2012
).
Measuring reactive oxygen and nitrogen species with fluorescent probes: challenges and limitations
.
Free Radic. Biol. Med.
52
,
1
-
6
.
Kamyshny
Jr, 
A.
,
Goifman
,
A.
,
Rizkov
,
D.
and
Lev
,
O.
(
2003
).
Formation of carbonyl sulfide by the reaction of carbon monoxide and inorganic polysulfides
.
Environ. Sci. Technol.
37
,
1865
-
1872
.
Karki
,
P.
and
Birukov
,
K. G.
(
2019
).
Rho and reactive oxygen species at crossroads of endothelial permeability and inflammation
.
Antioxid Redox Signal.
31
,
1009
-
1022
.
Kaushal
,
G. P.
,
Chandrashekar
,
K.
and
Juncos
,
L. A.
(
2019
).
Molecular interactions between reactive oxygen species and autophagy in kidney disease
.
Int. J. Mol. Sci.
20
,
3791
.
Keeley
,
T. P.
and
Mann
,
G. E.
(
2019
).
Defining physiological normoxia for improved translation of cell physiology to animal models and humans
.
Physiol. Rev.
99
,
161
-
234
.
Kimura
,
H.
(
2015
).
Signaling molecules: hydrogen sulfide and polysulfide
.
Antioxid. Redox Signal.
22
,
362
-
376
.
Knoops
,
B.
,
Loumaye
,
E.
and
Van Der Eecken
,
V.
(
2007
).
Evolution of the peroxiredoxins
.
Subcell. Biochem.
44
,
27
-
40
.
Kurek
,
K.
,
Plitta-Michalak
,
B.
and
Ratajczak
,
E.
(
2019
).
Reactive oxygen species as potential drivers of the seed aging process
.
Plants (Basel)
8
,
174
.
Kurland
,
C. G.
and
Andersson
,
S. G. E.
(
2000
).
Origin and evolution of the mitochondrial proteome
.
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev
64
,
786
-
820
.
Leister
,
D.
(
2019
).
Piecing the puzzle together: the central role of reactive oxygen species and redox hubs in chloroplast retrograde signaling
.
Antioxid Redox Signal.
30
,
1206
-
1219
.
Locey
,
K. J.
and
Lennon
,
J. T.
(
2016
).
Scaling laws predict global microbial diversity
.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
113
,
5970
-
5975
.
Lu
,
J.
and
Holmgren
,
A.
(
2014
).
The thioredoxin antioxidant system
.
Free Radic. Biol. Med
66
,
75
-
87
.
Lundegaard
,
L. F.
,
Weck
,
G.
,
Mcmahon
,
M. I.
,
Desgreniers
,
S.
and
Loubeyre
,
P.
(
2006
).
Observation of an O8 molecular lattice in the ɛ phase of solid oxygen
.
Nature
443
,
201
-
204
.
Maddalena
,
L. A.
,
Selim
,
S. M.
,
Fonseca
,
J.
,
Messner
,
H.
,
McGowan
,
S.
and
Stuart
,
J. A.
(
2017
).
Hydrogen peroxide production is affected by oxygen levels in mammalian cell culture
.
Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.
493
,
246
-
251
.
Meng
,
G.
,
Zhao
,
S.
,
Xie
,
L.
,
Han
,
Y.
and
Ji
,
Y.
(
2018
).
Protein S-sulfhydration by hydrogen sulfide in cardiovascular system
.
Br. J. Pharmacol.
175
,
1146
-
1156
.
Mhamdi
,
A.
and
van Breusegem
,
F.
(
2018
).
Reactive oxygen species in plant development
.
Development
145
,
dev164376
.
Miller
,
A.-F.
(
2012
).
Superoxide dismutases: ancient enzymes and new insights
.
FEBS Lett.
586
,
585
-
595
.
Miseta
,
A.
and
Csutora
,
P.
(
2000
).
Relationship between the occurrence of cysteine in proteins and the complexity of organisms
.
Mol. Biol. Evol.
17
,
1232
-
1239
.
Momtahan
,
N.
,
Crosby
,
C. O.
and
Zoldan
,
J.
(
2019
).
The role of reactive oxygen species in in vitro cardiac maturation
.
Trends Mol. Med.
25
,
482
-
493
.
Mora
,
C.
,
Tittensor
,
D. P.
,
Adl
,
S.
,
Simpson
,
A. G. B.
and
Worm
,
B.
(
2011
).
How many species are there on Earth and in the ocean?
PLoS Biol.
9
,
e1001127
.
Motohashi
,
H.
and
Yamamoto
,
M.
(
2004
).
Nrf2-Keap1 defines a physiologically important stress response mechanism
.
Trends Mol. Med.
10
,
549
-
557
.
Munro
,
D.
and
Pamenter
,
M. E.
(
2019
).
Comparative studies of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species in animal longevity: Technical pitfalls and possibilities
.
Aging Cell
18
,
e13009
.
Nagy
,
P.
(
2015
).
Mechanistic chemical perspective of hydrogen sulfide signaling
.
Methods Enzymol.
554
,
3
-
29
.
Novoselov
,
S. V.
and
Gladyshev
,
V. N.
(
2003
).
Non-animal origin of animal thioredoxin reductases: implications for selenocysteine evolution and evolution of protein function through carboxy-terminal extensions
.
Protein Sci.
12
,
372
-
378
.
Olson
,
K. R.
(
2015
).
Hydrogen sulfide as an oxygen sensor
.
Antioxid Redox Signal.
22
,
377
-
397
.
Olson
,
K. R.
(
2018
).
H2S and polysulfide metabolism: conventional and unconventional pathways
.
Biochem. Pharmacol.
149
,
77
-
90
.
Olson
,
K. R.
(
2019
).
Hydrogen sulfide, reactive sulfur species and coping with reactive oxygen species
.
Free Radic. Biol. Med.
140
,
74
-
83
.
Olson
,
K. R.
and
Gao
,
Y.
(
2019
).
Effects of inhibiting antioxidant pathways on cellular hydrogen sulfide and polysulfide metabolism
.
Free Radic. Biol. Med.
135
,
1
-
14
.
Olson
,
K. R.
and
Straub
,
K. D.
(
2016
).
The role of hydrogen sulfide in evolution and the evolution of hydrogen sulfide in metabolism and signaling
.
Physiology
31
,
60
-
72
.
Olson
,
K. R.
,
Gao
,
Y.
,
Arif
,
F.
,
Arora
,
K.
,
Patel
,
S.
,
Deleon
,
E. R.
,
Sutton
,
T. R.
,
Feelisch
,
M.
,
Cortese-Krott
,
M. M.
and
Straub
,
K. D.
(
2017a
).
Metabolism of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and production of Reactive Sulfur Species (RSS) by superoxide dismutase
.
Redox Biol.
15
,
74
-
85
.
Olson
,
K. R.
,
Gao
,
Y.
,
Deleon
,
E. R.
,
Arif
,
M.
,
Arif
,
F.
,
Arora
,
N.
and
Straub
,
K. D.
(
2017b
).
Catalase as a sulfide-sulfur oxido-reductase: an ancient (and modern?) regulator of reactive sulfur species (RSS)
.
Redox Biol.
12
,
325
-
339
.
Olson
,
K. R.
,
Briggs
,
A.
,
Devireddy
,
M.
,
Xian
,
M.
and
Gao
,
Y.
(
2019
a).
Are the beneficial effects of ‘antioxidant’ lipoic acid mediated through metabolism of reactive sulfur species?
Free Radic. Biol. Med.
146
,
139
-
149
.
Olson
,
K. R.
,
Gao
,
Y.
,
Arif
,
F.
,
Patel
,
S.
,
Yuan
,
X.
,
Mannam
,
V.
,
Howard
,
S.
,
Batinic-Haberle
,
I.
,
Fukuto
,
J.
,
Minnion
,
M.
, et al
. (
2019b
).
Manganese porphyrin-based SOD mimetics produce polysulfides from hydrogen sulfide
.
Antioxidants
8
,
1
-
19
.
Ono
,
K.
,
Akaike
,
T.
,
Sawa
,
T.
,
Kumagai
,
Y.
,
Wink
,
D. A.
,
Tantillo
,
D. J.
,
Hobbs
,
A. J.
,
Nagy
,
P.
,
Xian
,
M.
,
Lin
,
J.
, et al. 
(
2014
).
Redox chemistry and chemical biology of H2S, hydropersulfides, and derived species: Implications of their possible biological activity and utility
.
Free Radic. Biol. Med.
77
,
82
-
94
.
Onukwufor
,
J. O.
,
Berry
,
B. J.
and
Wojtovich
,
A. P.
(
2019
).
Physiologic implications of reactive oxygen species production by mitochondrial complex I reverse electron transport
.
Antioxidants (Basel)
8
,
285
.
Rodman
,
S. N.
,
Spence
,
J. M.
,
Ronnfeldt
,
T. J.
,
Zhu
,
Y.
,
Solst
,
S. R.
,
O'neill
,
R. A.
,
Allen
,
B. G.
,
Guan
,
X.
,
Spitz
,
D. R.
and
Fath
,
M. A.
(
2016
).
Enhancement of radiation response in breast cancer stem cells by inhibition of thioredoxin- and glutathione-dependent metabolism
.
Radiat. Res.
186
,
385
-
395
.
Saccoccia
,
F.
,
Angelucci
,
F.
,
Boumis
,
G.
,
Carotti
,
D.
,
Desiato
,
G.
,
Miele
,
A. E.
and
Bellelli
,
A.
(
2014
).
Thioredoxin reductase and its inhibitors
.
Curr. Protein Pept. Sci.
15
,
621
-
646
.
Saikolappan
,
S.
,
Kumar
,
B.
,
Shishodia
,
G.
,
Koul
,
S.
and
Koul
,
H. K.
(
2019
).
Reactive oxygen species and cancer: a complex interaction
.
Cancer Lett.
452
,
132
-
143
.
Schwarzländer
,
M.
,
Dick
,
T. P.
,
Meye
,
A. J.
and
Morgan
,
B.
(
2015
).
Dissecting redox biology using fluorescent protein sensors
.
Antioxid. Redox Signal.
24
,
680
-
712
.
Sies
,
H.
(
2017
).
Hydrogen peroxide as a central redox signaling molecule in physiological oxidative stress: oxidative eustress
.
Redox Biol.
11
,
613
-
619
.
Sies
,
H.
,
Berndt
,
C.
and
Jones
,
D. P.
(
2017
).
Oxidative stress
.
Annu. Rev. Biochem.
86
,
715
-
748
.
Sylvester
,
J. T.
,
Shimoda
,
L. A.
,
Aaronson
,
P. I.
and
Ward
,
J. P. T.
(
2012
).
Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction
.
Physiol. Rev.
92
,
367
-
520
.
Tejero
,
J.
,
Shiva
,
S.
and
Gladwin
,
M. T.
(
2019
).
Sources of vascular nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species and their regulation
.
Physiol. Rev.
99
,
311
-
379
.
Villamor
,
E.
,
Moreno
,
L.
,
Mohammed
,
R.
,
Pérez-Vizcaíno
,
F.
and
Cogolludo
,
A.
(
2019
).
Reactive oxygen species as mediators of oxygen signaling during fetal-to-neonatal circulatory transition
.
Free Radic. Biol. Med.
142
,
82
-
96
.
Ward
,
J. P. T.
(
2007
).
Curiouser and curiouser: the perplexing conundrum of reactive oxygen species and hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction
.
Exp. Physiol.
92
,
819
-
820
.
Waszczak
,
C.
,
Carmody
,
M.
and
Kangasjärvi
,
J.
(
2018
).
Reactive oxygen species in plant signaling
.
Annu. Rev. Plant Biol.
69
,
209
-
236
.
Waypa
,
G. B.
,
Marks
,
J. D.
,
Guzy
,
R.
,
Mungai
,
P. T.
,
Schriewer
,
J.
,
Dokic
,
D.
and
Schumacker
,
P. T.
(
2010
).
Hypoxia triggers subcellular compartmental redox signaling in vascular smooth muscle cells
.
Circ. Res.
106
,
526
-
535
.
Weinberg
,
F.
,
Ramnath
,
N.
and
Nagrath
,
D.
(
2019
).
Reactive oxygen species in the tumor microenvironment: an overview
.
Cancers
11
,
1191
.
Winterbourn
,
C. C.
(
2014
).
Are free radicals involved in thiol-based redox signaling?
Free Radic. Biol. Med.
80
,
164
-
170
.
Winterbourn
,
C. C.
(
2017
).
Biological production, detection, and fate of hydrogen peroxide
.
Antioxid Redox Signal.
29
.
Yang
,
J.
(
2019
).
The role of reactive oxygen species in angiogenesis and preventing tissue injury after brain ischemia
.
Microvasc. Res.
123
,
62
-
67
.
Yang
,
G.
,
Zhao
,
K.
,
Ju
,
Y.
,
Mani
,
S.
,
Cao
,
Q.
,
Puukila
,
S.
,
Khaper
,
N.
,
Wu
,
L.
and
Wang
,
R.
(
2013
).
Hydrogen sulfide protects against cellular senescence via S-sulfhydration of Keap1 and activation of Nrf2
.
Antioxid Redox Signal.
18
,
1906
-
1919
.
Zhang
,
X.-H.
and
Weissbach
,
H.
(
2008
).
Origin and evolution of the protein-repairing enzymes methionine sulphoxide reductases
.
Biol. Rev. Camb. Philos. Soc
83
,
249
-
257
.
Zhang
,
D.
,
Du
,
J.
,
Tang
,
C.
,
Huang
,
Y.
and
Jin
,
H.
(
2017
).
H2S-induced sulfhydration: biological function and detection methodology
.
Front. Pharmacol.
8
,
608
.
Zhang
,
H.
,
Wang
,
L.
and
Chu
,
Y.
(
2019
).
Reactive oxygen species: the signal regulator of B cell
.
Free Radic. Biol. Med.
142
,
16
-
22
.

Competing interests

The author declares no competing or financial interests.