Peroxiredoxins are protein-based antioxidant enzymes that facilitate signal transduction and control peroxide levels in cells. They perform vital functions in mammals, and their levels are regulated by changes in the organism. They also regulate an organism’s circadian rhythm.
Peroxiredoxins are a group of protein-based antioxidant enzymes found in the cells of an organism. These enzymes facilitate signal transduction within the body’s cells, causing a physiological response at the body’s cellular level. Enzymes also control the levels of peroxide found in cells by controlling other proteins known as cytokines, which ultimately produce peroxide from cells.
Researchers have determined that peroxiredoxins perform several vital functions in mammalian organisms. In fact, laboratory mice that have low or no levels of peroxiredoxins present in their blood supply have suffered as a result of anemia, as well as hemopoiesis or blood cancers. Lower amounts of the enzyme can also effectively shorten the lives of some laboratory mice by making them more susceptible to infection or disease. Other laboratory mice suffer from oxidative stress, or the inability of their bodies to remove toxins from the oxygen supplied to cells.
Other vital functions that take place in mammals and other organisms are controlled or facilitated by peroxiredoxins. For example, enzymes found in plants protect against oxidation in cells that are part of the plant’s photosynthesis system. With mammals, enzymes regulate events such as cell death, the production of new cells, and the passing of impulses from one cell to another.
The levels of peroxiredoxins found in the cells of an organism are regulated by changes in the phosphate or oligomer levels in the organism. Enzyme levels in an organism can also be affected by any chemical reaction in the organism that alters the oxidation state of atoms, such as when carbon is oxidized to produce carbon dioxide. An organism continues to recycle the enzymes in its cells, rather than constantly making new enzymes.
Enzymes from the peroxiredoxin family can be found not only in mammals, but also in other organisms. Mammals produce six different types of enzymes in the family, while E. coli produces only three different types. In mammals, enzymes can make up as much as one percent of the total amount of protein found in an organism’s cells.
An organism’s body “clock” or circadian rhythm is also regulated by peroxiredoxins present in cells. The circadian rhythm is the 24-hour biological clock that drives physiological and behavioral functions in various organisms, including mammals and plants, that are independent of environmental cues, such as when the sun rises or sets. Although other elements in a body contribute to the circadian rhythm, researchers have determined that these enzymes have regulated the circadian rhythm in mammals longer than any other known element.
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