Cysteine's metabolic fork: Sulfur partitioning shapes T cell function

Melanie Grusdat; Dirk Brenner

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2026.05.011

Cysteine's metabolic fork: Sulfur partitioning shapes T cell function

Cell. 2026 Jun 11;189(12):3506-3508. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.05.011.

Authors

Melanie Grusdat¹, Dirk Brenner²

Affiliations

¹ Experimental and Molecular Immunology, Department of Infection and Immunity (DII), Luxembourg Institute of Health, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
² Experimental and Molecular Immunology, Department of Infection and Immunity (DII), Luxembourg Institute of Health, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg; Immunology & Genetics, Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of Luxembourg, 7 Avenue des Hauts Fourneaux, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. Electronic address: dirk.brenner@lih.lu.

PMID: 42276031
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.05.011

Abstract

T cells live or die by their metabolism, yet one nutrient can serve very different ends. In this issue of Cell, Kelly et al. show that cysteine's sulfur is partitioned between glutathione and iron-sulfur cluster synthesis. This routing drives CD8⁺ T cell proliferation, effector function, and anti-tumor immunity.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Animals
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes* / immunology
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes* / metabolism
Cysteine* / metabolism
Glutathione / metabolism
Humans
Iron-Sulfur Proteins / metabolism
Sulfur* / metabolism
T-Lymphocytes* / immunology
T-Lymphocytes* / metabolism

Substances

Cysteine
Sulfur
Glutathione
Iron-Sulfur Proteins