Hydrogen Sulfide Biochemistry and Interplay with Other Gaseous Mediators in Mammalian Physiology

Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide (H ₂S) has emerged as a relevant signaling molecule in physiology, taking its seat as a bona fide gasotransmitter akin to nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO). After being merely regarded as a toxic poisonous molecule, it is now recognized that mammalian cells are equipped with sophisticated enzymatic systems for H ₂S production and breakdown. The signaling role of H ₂S is mainly related to its ability to modify different protein targets, particularly by promoting persulfidation of protein cysteine residues and by interacting with metal centers, mostly hemes. H ₂S has been shown to regulate a myriad of cellular processes with multiple physiological consequences. As such, dysfunctional H ₂S metabolism is increasingly implicated in different pathologies, from cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases to cancer. As a highly diffusible reactive species, the intra- and extracellular levels of H ₂S have to be kept under tight control and, accordingly, regulation of H ₂S metabolism occurs at different levels. Interestingly, even though H ₂S, NO, and CO have similar modes of action and parallel regulatory targets or precisely because of that, there is increasing evidence of a crosstalk between the three gasotransmitters. Herein are reviewed the biochemistry, metabolism, and signaling function of hydrogen sulfide, as well as its interplay with the other gasotransmitters, NO and CO.