title: SelT, SelW, SelH, and Rdx12: genomics and molecular insights into the functions of selenoproteins of a novel thioredoxin-like family.
abstract: Selenium is an essential trace element in many life forms due to its occurrence as a selenocysteine (Sec) residue in selenoproteins. The majority of mammalian selenoproteins, however, have no known function. Herein, we performed extensive sequence similarity searches to define and characterize a new protein family, designated Rdx, that includes mammalian selenoproteins SelW, SelV, SelT and SelH, bacterial SelW-like proteins and cysteine-containing proteins of unknown function in all three domains of life. An additional member of this family is a mammalian cysteine-containing protein, designated Rdx12, and its fish selenoprotein orthologue. Rdx proteins are proposed to possess a thioredoxin-like fold and a conserved CxxC or CxxU (U is Sec) motif, suggesting a redox function. We cloned and characterized three mammalian members of this family, which showed distinct expression patterns in mouse tissues and different localization patterns in cells transfected with the corresponding GFP fusion proteins. By analogy to thioredoxin, Rdx proteins can use catalytic cysteine (or Sec) to form transient mixed disulfides with substrate proteins. We employed this property to identify cellular targets of Rdx proteins using affinity columns containing mutant versions of these proteins. Rdx12 was found to interact with glutathione peroxidase 1, whereas 14-3-3 protein was identified as one of the targets of mammalian SelW, suggesting a mechanism for redox regulation of the 14-3-3 family of proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dikiy
authors.forename: Sergey V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Novoselov
authors.forename: Dmitri E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Fomenko
authors.forename: Aniruddha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sengupta
authors.forename: Bradley A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: Ronald L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Cerny
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ginalski
authors.forename: Nick V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Grishin
authors.forename: Dolph L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Hatfield
authors.forename: Vadim N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Gladyshev
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D008322:Mammals; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D051151:Selenoprotein W / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D051140:Selenoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013879:Thioredoxins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D051151:Selenoprotein W; D051140:Selenoproteins; D013879:Thioredoxins