A role for cytoglobin in regulating intracellular hydrogen peroxide and redox signals in the vasculature

The oxidant hydrogen peroxide serves as a signaling molecule that alters many aspects of cardiovascular functions. Recent studies suggest that cytoglobin - a hemoglobin expressed in the vasculature - may promote electron transfer reactions with proposed functions in hydrogen peroxide decomposition. Here, we determined the extent to which cytoglobin regulates intracellular hydrogen peroxide and established mechanisms. We found that cytoglobin decreased the hyperoxidation of peroxiredoxins and maintained the activity of peroxiredoxin 2 following challenge with exogenous hydrogen peroxide. Cytoglobin promoted a reduced intracellular environment and facilitated the reduction of the thiol-based hydrogen peroxide sensor Hyper7 after bolus addition of hydrogen peroxide. Cytoglobin also limited the inhibitory effect of hydrogen peroxide on glycolysis and reversed the oxidative inactivation of the glycolytic enzyme GAPDH. Our results indicate that cytoglobin in cells exists primarily as oxyferrous cytoglobin (CygbFe2+-O2) with its cysteine residues in the reduced form. We found that the specific substitution of one of two cysteine residues on cytoglobin (C83A) inhibited the reductive activity of cytoglobin on Hyper7 and GAPDH. Carotid arteries from cytoglobin knockout mice were more sensitive to glycolytic inhibition by hydrogen peroxide than arteries from wildtype mice. Together, these results support a role for cytoglobin in regulating intracellular redox signals associated with hydrogen peroxide through oxidation of its cysteine residues, independent of hydrogen peroxide reaction at its heme center.