Persulfide, polysulfide and thiosulfate are examples of sulfane sulfur containing chemicals that play multiple functions in biological systems. Rhodaneses are widely present in all three kingdoms of life, which catalyze sulfur transfer among these sulfane sulfur-containing chemicals. The mechanism of how rhodaneses function is not well understood. Saccharomyces cerevisiae rhodanese 2 (RDL2) is involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and cell cycle control. Herein, we report a 2.47 Å resolution structure of RDL2 co-crystallized with thiosulfate (PDB entry: 6K6R). The presence of an extra sulfur atom S_δ, forming a persulfide bond with the S_γ atom of Cys₁₀₆, was observed. Distinct from the persulfide groups in GlpE (PDB entry:1GMX) and rhobov (PDB entry:1BOI), the persulfide group of RDL2 is located in a peanut-like pocket of the neutral electrostatic field and is far away from positively charged amino acid residues of its active-site loop, suggesting no interaction between them. This finding suggests that the positively charged amino acid residues are not involved in the stabilization of the persulfide group. Activity assays indicate that the Arg₁₁₁ of the active-site loop is critical for the sulfane sulfur transfer. In vitro assays indicate that Arg propels the thiosulfate decomposition. Thus, we propose that Arg can offer a hydrogen bond-rich, acidic-like microenvironment in RDL2 in which thiosulfate decomposes to release sulfane sulfur. Thr of the active-site loop of rhodaneses has the same functions as Arg. Our proposal may explain the catalyzing mechanism of rhodaneses.

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Wang Q, Li H, Xia Y, Xun L, Liu H

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