Cited by 126Redox biology and oxidative stressCytokine Signaling Pathways and InteractionsSulfur Compounds in Biology

S-glutathionylation impairs signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 activation and signaling

Open access
Xie, Yi, Kole, Sutapa, Precht, Patricia, Pazin, Michael J., Bernier, Michel·2009·Endocrinology

Abstract

S-glutathionylation is a physiological, reversible protein modification of cysteine residues with glutathione in response to mild oxidative stress. Because the key cell growth regulator signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 is particularly susceptible to redox regulation, we hypothesized that oxidative modification of cysteine residues of STAT3 by S-glutathionylation may occur. Herein, we show that the cysteine residues of STAT3 are modified by a thiol-alkylating agent and are the targets of S-glutathionylation. STAT3 protein thiol reactivity was reversibly attenuated with concomitant increase in the S-glutathionylation of STAT3 upon treatment of human HepG2 hepatoma cells with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, glutathione disulfide, or diamide. Under these conditions there was a marked reduction in IL-6-dependent STAT3 signaling, including decreased STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation, loss in nuclear accumulation of STAT3, and impaired expression of target genes, such as fibrinogen-γ. In a cell-free system, diamide induced glutathionylation of STAT3, which was decreased upon addition of glutaredoxin (GRX)-1, a deglutathionylation enzyme, or the reducing agent, dithiothreitol. Glutathionylated STAT3 was a poor Janus protein tyrosine kinase 2 substrate in vitro, and it exhibited low DNA-binding activity. Cellular GRX-1 activity was inhibited by diamide and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate treatment; however, ectopic expression of GRX-1 was accompanied by a modest increase in phosphorylation, nuclear translocation, and DNA-binding ability of STAT3 in response to IL-6. These results are the first to show S-glutathionylation of STAT3, a modification that may exert regulatory function in STAT3 signaling. Reversible S-glutathionylation of STAT3 regulates its activity as transcription factor.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1210/en.2008-1241

Cites

60 of 60 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • STAT3 itself can be subject to direct modification by oxidative stress, as 9 of the 14 cysteine residues within STAT3 are redox sensitive.

    “STAT3 itself can be subject to direct modification by oxidative stress, as 9 of the 14 cysteine residues within STAT3 have been reported to be redox sensitive.”

    From Targeting Janus Kinases and Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 To Treat Inflammation, Fibrosis, and Cancer: Rationale, Progress, and Caution (2020) · cites this paper as Xie et al., 2009

    The section ‘STAT3 protein contains cysteine residues that are targets for S-glutathionylation’ reports that STAT3 has reactive thiols and that its cysteines can undergo oxidative modification. The Discussion says it remains unclear which cysteines are particularly reactive; our copy does not report that 9 of STAT3’s 14 cysteine residues are redox sensitive. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Oxidative modifications affect the transcriptional activity of STAT3 through inhibiting Y705 phosphorylation and/or DNA binding, inducing formation of higher order complexes, and interfering with the function of the TAD.

    “These modifications affect the transcriptional activity of STAT3 through inhibiting Y705 phosphorylation and/or DNA binding, as well as inducing formation of higher order complexes and interfering with the function of the TAD (Li and Shaw, 2004; Xie et al., 2009; Li et al., 2010a; Kurdi et al., 2012; Butturini et al., 2014; Sobotta et al., 2015).”

    From Targeting Janus Kinases and Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 To Treat Inflammation, Fibrosis, and Cancer: Rationale, Progress, and Caution (2020) · cites this paper as Xie et al., 2009

    The Discussion reports that STAT3 S-glutathionylation reduces IL-6-induced tyrosine phosphorylation and transcriptional activation, and that S-thiolation reduces DNA binding. Our copy does not support attributing higher-order complex formation or interference with the transactivation domain (TAD) to this paper. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Thiol-targeting agents inhibit IL-6-induced STAT3 activation by S-glutathionylation in HepG2 cells, human endothelial cells, neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, and adult mouse cardiac myocytes.

    “thiol-targeting agents also inhibited IL-6–induced STAT3 activation by S-glutathionylation in HepG2 cells (Xie et al., 2009), human endothelial cells, neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, and adult mouse cardiac myocytes (Zgheib et al., 2012)”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 61 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Xie, Y., Kole, S., Precht, P., Pazin, M. J., & Bernier, M.
Affiliations
  • National Institutes of Health (US)
  • MedStar Health Research Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Bernier, Michel
Venue
Endocrinology
Published
2008-11-06
Volume
150
Issue
3
Pages
1122-1131
ISSN
  • 0013-7227 (ISSN-L)
  • 1945-7170
OpenAlex
W1996740511
Cited by
126
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 5
FWCI
2.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Endocrinology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute on Aging (ZIAAG000378)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Redox biology and oxidative stress
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cytokine Signaling Pathways and Interactions
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Sulfur Compounds in Biology
Keywords
S-glutathionylation, STAT3, cysteine oxidation, glutaredoxin 1, IL-6 signaling, STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation, nuclear translocation, DNA-binding activity, oxidative stress, diamide, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, protein thiol modification
MeSH terms
Antioxidants, Cells, Cultured, Cysteine, Diamines, Glutathione, Humans, Phosphorylation, Protein Processing, Post-Translational, Pyrrolidines, Thiocarbamates, Transfection, Signal Transduction, Interleukin-6, Oxidants, STAT3 Transcription Factor, Janus Kinase 2, Glutaredoxins

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review