Molecule
of the Week Archive, Glutathione, May 29,
2017;_WJD_2019-0528_V001R01_IR00_RvD20190528_
Molecule of the Week Archive, Glutathione, May 29,
2017;_WJD_2019-0528_V001R01_IR00_RvD20190528_
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Molecule of the Week Archive, Glutathione, May 29,
2017;_WJD_2019-0528_V001R01_IR00_RvD20190528_
Source (資訊來源):
Info cited on 2019-05-28-WD2 (資訊引用於 中華民國108年5月28日) by 湯偉晉
(WeiJin Tang)
#
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Molecule of the Week Archive
Glutathione
May 29, 2017
I’m a
natural antioxidant that is key to the immune system.
What molecule am I?
Glutathione is a tripeptide that
consists of the amino acids glutamic acid, cysteine, and glycine. This natural
antioxidant exists in every cell of most organisms, including all animals and
plants. Its reducing power comes from the thiol group in the cysteine linkage.
In 1929, Frederick Gowland Hopkins
at the University of Cambridge (UK) isolated glutathione from yeast. He noted that its concentration in yeast is 0.1 wt% or
greater and that the substance is also present in red blood corpuscles.
The same year, Hopkins and Dutch physician Christiaan Eijkman were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their research on the concept of vitamins*, although the only one they
actually discovered was vitamin B1 (thiamine).
The first synthesis of glutathione is credited to chemist Vincent
du Vigneaud of Cornell Medical College (New York City; now Weill Cornell
Medicine) in 1952. Du Vigneaud was also a Nobel awardee; he won the chemistry prize in 1955 for his work on biologically important
sulfur compounds.
This April, Dirk Brenner at the Luxembourg Institute of
Health and coauthors in seven countries reported that, in addition to
its function as an antioxidant, glutathione also stimulates T cell energy
metabolism. This stimulation allows T cells to
generate an optimal immune response and fight off pathogens. This discovery may lead to new
therapies against cancer and autoimmune diseases.
*Polish biochemist Casimir Funk made
the discovery earlier than Hopkins and Eijkman, but the Nobel committee
chose not to include him in the award. See the Nobel Prize Web site for this strange story.
MOTW Update
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was the Molecule of the week
for August 2, 2004. It has many functions in cells, but the body
produces more ATP than would seem to be needed. Recently, Yamuna
Krishnan at the University of Chicago, Anthony A. Hyman at the Max Planck
Institute of Molecular Cell Biology & Genetics (Dresden, Germany), and
co-workers discovered that ATP may have other
uses. For one, it can prevent certain proteins from aggregating to form amyloid
clumps.
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