Glutaredoxin systems

Glutaredoxins utilize the reducing power of glutathione to maintain and regulate the cellular redox state and redox-dependent signaling pathways, for instance, by catalyzing reversible protein S-glutathionylation. Due to the general importance of these processes, glutaredoxins have been implied in various physiological and disease-related conditions, such as immune defense, cardiac hypertrophy, hypoxia-reoxygenation insult, neurodegeneration and cancer development, progression as well as treatment. The past years have seen an impressive gain of knowledge regarding new glutaredoxin systems and functions. This is true both with respect to new functions in redox regulation and also with respect to unexpected new ties to iron metabolism and iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis. The aim of this review is to provide a state-of-the-art overview over these recent discoveries with a focus on aspects related to human health. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.