Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are a very large and highly conserved family of peroxidases that reduce peroxides, with a conserved cysteine residue, designated the "peroxidatic" Cys (CP) serving as the site of oxidation by peroxides (Hall et al., 2011; Rhee et al., 2012). Peroxides oxidize the CP-SH to cysteine sulfenic acid (CP-SOH), which then reacts with another cysteine residue, named the "resolving" Cys (CR) to form a disulfide that is subsequently reduced by an appropriate electron donor to complete a catalytic cycle. This overview summarizes the status of studies on Prxs and relates the following 10 minireviews.
Keywords: circadian rhythm; hydrogen peroxide; peroxiredoxin; redox regulation; thiol-specific peroxidasee.