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Abstract
The intestinal tract, known for its capability for self-renew, represents the first barrier of defence between the organism and its luminal environment. The thiol/disulfide redox systems comprising the glutathione/glutathione disulfide (GSH/GSSG), cysteine/cystine (Cys/CySS) and reduced and oxidized thioredoxin (Trx/TrxSS) redox couples play important roles in preserving tissue redox homeostasis, metabolic functions, and cellular integrity. Control of the thiol-disulfide status at the luminal surface is essential for maintaining mucus fluidity and absorption of nutrients, and protection against chemical-induced oxidant injury. Within intestinal cells, these redox couples preserve an environment that supports physiological processes and orchestrates networks of enzymatic reactions against oxidative stress. In this review, we focus on the intestinal redox and antioxidant systems, their subcellular compartmentation, redox signalling and epithelial turnover, and contribution of luminal microbiota, key aspects that are relevant to understanding redox-dependent processes in gut biology with implications for degenerative digestive disorders, such as inflammation and cancer.
Keywords::
- intestinal redox status and control of redox balance
- extracellular cysteine/cystine (Cys/CySS) redox state
- cellular glutathione/glutathione disulfide (GSH/GSSG) redox state
- redox control of intestinal cell phenotypic transitions
- mucosal GSH and GSH-dependent enzymes
- GSH and intestinal oxidative stress
- intestinal disorders and tissue redox state
- intestinal microbiota
- intestinal NFκB redox signalling
This paper was first published online on Early Online on 31 August 2011.