The defense and signaling role of NADPH oxidases in eukaryotic cells

All known Nox enzymes are transmembrane proteins which, in a vectorial way, catalyze the one-electron reduction of dioxygen (O₂) to produce superoxide (O₂⁻), an anion radical (see Fig. 1). The one-electron transmembrane reduction reaction is accomplished by four different sequential redox-active co-factors: NADPH, FADH, and two non-identical b‑type cytochromes. Fig. 2 shows the binding consensus sequences for these co-factors. As a negative charge is created on the outside of the membrane, this must be compensated by a proton that is transported through the membrane. No high-resolution three-dimensional structure of a whole-length Nox enzyme is known, mainly due to the reluctance of membrane proteins to yield crystals suitable for X‑ray diffraction. However, in 2017 the dehydrogenase domain and the transmembrane domain of the cyanobacterial Nox5 ortholog were resolved to 2.2 and 2.05 A, respectively [11]. The hypothetical structure shown in Fig. 2 is in excellent agreement with the combined structures of the two domains. This structure can beautifully explain the vectorial transfer of single electrons to form the superoxide radical anion. Additionally, the now available crystallographic structure confirms previous biochemical experiments in vivo and in vitro, including in vitro mutagenesis studies. Bioinformatic analysis identifies transmembrane helices, binding histidines for the two cytochromes b, consensus binding sequences for the co-factors NADPH and FADH and show which parts of the enzyme are located in the inside (cytoplasm in the case of Nox2) and on the outside of the membrane (extracellular space) (Figs. 2 and 3).

Based on sequence similarity and biochemical activity, seven genes in the human genome have been annotated as being NADPH oxidases [10]. Before a discussion of some salient features of these seven enzymes is presented, the reader’s attention should be brought to the fact that research performed over the last 10 years has increasingly shown that organ- and cell-specific expression, as well as biochemical activity of these enzymes is not as highly specialized and restricted to one function only as was previously believed. To give an example, it is now known that Nox2 is not only expressed in macrophages and neutrophils as a defense enzyme, but also in other somatic tissues like epithelial cells of the colon, where it likely fulfils a signaling function. Fig. 4 shows an overview of the predominant expression patterns, functions, chromosomal locations, and protein co-factors of the seven enzymes.

The first human Nox enzyme studied in detail was Nox2 (formerly called gp91). Leukocytes from patients carrying the X‑chromosomal recessive form of chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) were found to be defective in the production of superoxide and clinically presented with severe granuloma and early death due to multiple infections. Cloning of the gp91 gene was one of the first examples of positional cloning of a human gene by chromosome walking [12, 13]. The other six human Nox genes and proteins were identified later based on the emerging human genome sequence, cDNA cloning, and the generation of monoclonal antibodies. As in the case of Nox2, patient-derived cell cultures and the establishment of in vitro systems for activity measurements were essential. These additional NADPH oxidases are described below.

Research on human Nox2 started with clinical and genetic data on patients suffering from CGD and with biochemical measurements of the “respiratory burst” observed in macrophages and neutrophils isolated form these patients. In clarifying the role of Nox2 in the antibacterial defense activity of the innate immune defense, a collaboration within clinical medicine, the development of activity assays by biochemists, the discovery of the often short-lived ROS using biophysics methods, the development of in vitro systems derived from neutrophils and macrophages of patients suffering from the different clinical forms of CGD, and the genetic analysis of the families of these patients was necessary for progress to be made in this field. The history of this early exciting phase of Nox research is extremely well described in a recent review [14]. These investigations showed the role of Nox2 in the innate immune defense in conjuction with myeloperoxidase, NO synthase, and superoxide dismutase (SOD). The combined action of these macrophage enzymes results in the formation of highly aggressive small molecules. These include: (i) H₂O₂, (ii) through Fenton chemistry, OH radicals; (iii) peroxynitrite, (iv) hypochloric acid, and (v) chloramines [15]. Further degradative enzymes activated in the defense reaction are lysozyme and other enzymes capable of degrading bacterial cell walls.

The role of superoxide in cellular defense by macrophages was discovered by Babior [16] based on the discovery of superoxide as a biological molecule [17] and SOD [18]. An important finding leading to an understanding of the oxidative burst was the fact that inhibition of the mitochondrial respiratory chain with cyanide did not inhibit the respiratory burst, showing that it is independent of the respiratory chain. On the other hand, inhibiting glycolysis, and thereby also the formation of NADPH via the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), stopped it [19]. In vitro experiments showed that the reaction (Fig. 1) is specific for NADPH, excluding NADH as a substrate.

The defense reactions take place in phagosomes, which are specialized endocytotic vesicles enclosing particles (like bacteria) that are foreign to the cells and, in the case of bacteria, are recognized via receptors for bacterial-specific surface structures [20]. The phagosomes, which may be much larger than ordinary endosomes, subsequently fuse with lysosomes and form the endo-lysosome. At this stage, the defense reactions are triggered mostly by assembly of the Nox2 holo-enzyme at the endolysosome membrane. Components of signal transduction such as nuclear factor (NF)-κB, protein kinase C, and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases are involved in the activation reaction [10, 14]. The necessary components of the holo-enzyme are shown in Fig. 4. The chemically highly reactive small molecules mentioned above remain sequestered in this compartment (which is topologically outside the cell), thereby protecting the rest of the cell. Much less is known about the absolutely necessary down-regulation of this process. The ROS and RNS needs to be removed by the antioxidative machinery of the cell [21], the cellular debris needs to be exocytosed, amino acids and other small biochemical building blocks are recycled into cellular metabolism, and last but not least, proteins of the invader (in the form of their peptides) are exocytosed via the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and presented to T‑cells. The role in adaptive immunity is not discussed here, as it lies outside the scope of the present review. As part of the whole process, the macrophage survives and is ready for a second round of activity [22].

Activity of Nox2 in the phagosome is triggered only after recruitment of a number of regulatory proteins to the phagosome membrane core component gp91 (a highly glycosylated protein), among them p22 (intrinsic membrane protein) and the cytoplasmic regulatory subunits p47, p67, p40, and rac [10, 14]. A key step in this activation process is phosphorylation of PKCδ in its regulatory loop and, subsequently, phosphorylation of the Nox2 regulatory subunit p47 at the C‑terminal serine-rich autoinhibitory domain [23]. Again, genetic and biochemical analysis of these regulatory components was only possible through a combination of several complementary techniques of molecular biology, including clinical work with patients and patient cells. An array of milder forms of CGD along with other chronic inflammatory diseases caused by the loss of the regulatory subunits of Nox2 has been studied.

The main facts that were learned through the clinical phenotypes of these patients are the following:

The regulatory subunit of the Nox2 multisubunit complex, p47 (discussed above), has also been recognized as a general regulator of inflammatory diseases and was named neutrophil cytoplasmic regulatory factor (Ncf1) [25]. Surprisingly, the H₂O₂ that is produced (indirectly) by the Nox2 system of neutrophils is also a regulator of chronic inflammation, and a lack of ROS production by this system leads to autoimmune inflammatory diseases such as arthritis and a number of additional chronic inflammatory diseases (inflammatory bowel syndrome, lupus erythematosus). Patients presenting with CGD frequently suffer from inflammatory bowel syndrome. The mechanistic link between Nox2 and these unexpected associated diseases has been studied in detail. No less than three of the regulatory subunits of Nox2, as well as gp91 itself, have been found to be associated with different well-known chronic inflammatory diseases: a defect of gp91phox is associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in human patients and genetically modified mice [26]; p47 (Ncf1) is correlated with chronic arthritis (reviewed in [25]); p67 (Ncf2) is correlated with SLE [27]; and p40 (NCF4) is correlated with atopic dermatitis [28] and inflammatory bowel disease [29]. Formal evidence of a direct causal relationship, however, is difficult to provide in these cases. The conclusion from these surprising findings is that Nox2 in human neutrophils and macrophages has two relatively different functions: for a limited amount of time in acute infections, the system produces the respiratory burst that is needed as an essential part of innate immunity. But, at a much lower level of activity, chronic production of ROS (presumably the relevant molecular species is H₂O₂) is necessary as a signal to regulate autoimmunity and inflammation, and a defect in the system leads to a variety of well-known autoimmune inflammatory diseases.

One of the questions that are still partly open is the tight regulation in time and space of the respiratory burst, which seems to be necessary to avoid an overwhelming amount of ROS triggered by infection.

In resting cells, which can express the Nox2 subunits (neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages), a deleterious activation of the respiratory burst is prevented by the spatial separation of the membrane components from the cytoplasmic regulatory components [30]. The process of activation is triggered by the binding of trigger substances to surface receptors of the cells [31]; these can be formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLF), a peptide that is prokaryotic-specific and indicates bacterial infection, or by the binding of particles such as whole bacteria (see above, [20]) or particles covered with immunoglobulin G (IgG).

The pathways originating from this point are different in neutrophils and macrophages [32]. In both cases, the dead material is further degraded in the lysosome of the cell and eventually recycled in the cellular metabolism; however, only macrophages can survive this process, while neutrophils die through apoptosis or NETosis [33].

The process involving the oxidative burst is not only restricted to the phagosome, it is also quickly down-regulated if further stimulating signals (further infectious agents) are no longer present. This is accomplished by two mechanisms: (i) the antioxidative machinery of the cell, including NADPH-dependent antioxidative enzymes that are highly conserved in all eukaryotes (discussed in detail in [21]) can remove the excess ROS, and (ii) the rapid degradation of the Nox2 enzyme complex through endoplasmic reticulum associated degradation (ERAD) in a recently discovered mechanism including the protein negative regulator of ROS (NRROS) [34].

To summarize what has been said thus far, one can state: (i) Nox2, the best known defense enzyme of the Nox protein family, not only has a highly regulated role as a massive producer of ROS, but it is also a signaling module, as shown by the phenotype of CGD and other chronic autoimmune diseases (discussed above); (ii) the function of Nox2 in the innate immediate immune response is closely interdependent with the adaptive immune system; (iii) the Nox2 gp91 system is predominantly expressed in phagocytic white blood cells like macrophages and neutrophils, but has also been detected in more recent times in other somatic cells to a minor degree [14].

A brief overview of these six isoenzmes will be given. They all have either signaling functions or redox functions for specialized biochemical reactions. Table 1 shows an overview of these additional Nox enzymes.

Nox1: This NADPH oxidase isoform was the first non-phagocytic isoform to be discovered displaying 58% amino acid sequence identity to the phagocyte enzyme [35‐37]. Activity depends on p22 and on the p47 and p67 homologs, NOXO1 and NOXA1, respectively [38, 39]. It is located on the X chromosome of the human and mouse genome [40] and is preferentially expressed in human colon epithelial cells [38]. Although a number of splice variants have been described [41], they were not functionally analyzed.

The majority of papers on the physiological or pathophysiological function of Nox1 was published in recent years. Oncogene-induced senescence (OIS) in cells expressing Ha-ras^val12 is caused by the activation of Nox1 [42]. Nox1 activation is accomplished by phosphorylation at threonine 429 by protein kinase C beta1, facilitating association with the NoxA1 regulatory subunit [43]. In the HepG2 tumor cell line, Nox1 activity seems to be responsible for metabolic restructuring (concerning for instance the Warburg effect), and Nox1 is therefore considered to be pro-tumorigenic [44]. Nox1 is strongly expressed in colon cells and seems to be required for wound healing after inflammatory disease of the colon [45, 46]. Surprisingly, the antioxidative enzyme peroxiredoxin 6 (Prdx6) is a required co-factor for Nox1 activity in wound repair in an animal model of colitis [46]. Loss of Nox1 can cause inflammatory bowel disease [47], as can certain defects in Nox2 expression (discussed above). Regulatory subunits of Nox1 in colon cells (NOXO1, NOXA1) have been identified and are distinct from the regulatory subunits of Nox2 [39]. Through interaction with ADAM17, Nox1 is reponsible for the growth and metastasis of certain forms of colon cancer [48].

Nox1 and Nox4 are needed for the formation of the extraembryonic endoderm [49].

Nox3: Nox3 was discovered together with two other non-phagocytic Nox-encoding genes and proteins (Nox4 and Nox5) [50]. The gene coding for Nox3 is located on human chromosome 6. Both the clinical and mouse reverse genetics data showed that a major function of this gene lies in the vestibular and cochlear part of the inner ear of mammals [51]. Genome wide association studies [52] confirm the Nox3 encoding locus as a major genetic factor associated with hearing loss. A loss of function of this gene leads to hearing loss and to a defect in balance. It is highly probable that the biochemical function of the superoxide produced is synthesis of the otolith. However, no detailed biochemical studies on this reaction have been published. The expression pattern of Nox3, both at the mRNA and protein level, is very specific. Expression in the inner ear is at least 50-fold higher than expression in other tissues (fetal organs like embryonic kidney and spermatogonial stem cells) [50, 53]. It appears that the membrane-bound subunit, p22, binds in vivo to Nox3 [54]. However, CGD patients that suffer from a defect of p22 do not present with hearing or balance problems, an observation which speaks against a necessary function of p22 for Nox3 activation. On the other hand, the organizing cytoplasmic subunit NOXO1 (homolog of p47) and the activating cytoplasmic subunit, NOXA1 (homolog of p67) both seem to be necessary for Nox3 function [10, 55]. A deletion of NOXO1 in the mouse mimics the phenotype of the Nox3 defect.

Nox3 isoforms due to differential splicing have not been studied in detail as yet. The activity of Nox3 in the inner ear seems to be constitutive, but it is not understood why continuous activity in this organ is necessary. An interesting new finding [56] is the activity of Nox3, together with Nox5 in the precursor cells of oligodendrocytes that form the myelin sheath of neurons in the brain. This finding is based on a cell line, MO3-13, which is similar to oligodendrocyte precursor cells. In those cells, Nox3 and Nox5 activity seems to be necessary for the differentiation of the precursor cells. However, these interesting findings have not been confirmed as yet by in vivo data.

Nox4 was discovered [57, 58] as an NADPH oxidase highly expressed in kidney, but it is expressed at a low level in a large variety of human tissues, including cancers, cancer cell lines, and embryonic tissues. It is encoded on human chromosome 11. Together with Nox2, Nox4 activity is necessary for the maintenance of stemness of induced pluripotent stem cells [59]. An excellent review on this human Nox isoform was published relatively recently [60]. The enzyme is peculiar and differs from all other human Nox enzymes in several ways: (i) it is the only human Nox enzyme that can produce H₂O₂ relatively directly [61]. This activity can be prohibited by exchanging a single histidine residue in the extracytoplasmic E‑loop of the Nox4 sequence [61]. The enzyme does not contain a peroxidase domain. (ii) Its activity depends on the membrane bound protein co-factor, p22, but not at all on the soluble co-factors, p67, p47, NOXO1, or NOXA1. (iii) However, unusual Nox activating factors have been identified that interact with the Nox4 or p22-Nox4 complex, like protein disulfide isomerase, RNA polymerase delta interacting protein 2, and others [62]. The enzyme is therefore constitutively active and perhaps regulated primarily through its subcellular location. Indeed, careful localization studies have been performed and the four different splice isoforms mentioned below are localized in different compartments of the cell. It may be too early to draw definite conclusions, but the splice isoforms may be dominant negative forms regulating Nox4 activity, and in one case gene regulation via interaction with transcription factors and chromatin modifying enzymes may be the physiological purpose of Nox4D, which is localized in the cell nucleus [63, 64] and certainly is an isoform inactive as an NADPH oxidase. Localization of the active form of Nox4 has been found in mitochondria [65], but also in the ER [62, 66], in focal adhesions [67], and the plasma membrane [61] depending on cell type and physiological (stressful) situation. The Nox4 locus is localized on chromosome 11q14.2–q21, the exonic structure (25 exons) is dissimilar to that of Nox1, 2, and 3, and the existence and significance of splice isoforms was studied [63, 68]. Nox4 expression seems to play a major role in all phases of cancer development (initiation, growth, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, cell migration, metastasis) [60, 69] and even in oncogene-induced senescence triggered by the oncogenic version of the Ha-ras proto-oncogene [70]. It is therefore an important aim of cancer research to develop specific inhibitors of Nox4, which has not been achieved up to now, despite testing of a large number of candidate compounds [60].

Nox5 (discussed in detail in [71]) is the only human Nox isoform that is active independent of co-factor proteins. It is also the only mammalian Nox isoform that is absent from a whole group of mammalian species (rodents, tested in rats and mice). In humans, the protein is encoded in chromosome 15, position q23 [50, 72]. Six different and presumably active splice isoforms have been detected, and an unusually high number [10] of polymorphic alleles is found in the human population, which are all above the 1% level and are correlated with different ethnic groups. Some of these alleles are non-functional, but they are never found as homozygous loss of function forms, possibly indicating that some Nox5 activity is necessary for life. The protein is located in the plasma membrane and contains 4 EF-hand sequences to bind 4 Ca⁺⁺ ions in its N-terminal cytoplasmic tail. Calcium ion binding as well as calmodulin binding to a C-terminal binding sequence together with serine/threonine-specific phosphorylation on Thr⁴⁹⁴ and Ser⁴⁹⁸ through protein kinase C is a necessary activation mechanism for this enzyme [73, 74]. Interestingly, a similar C‑terminal calmodulin-binding domain in Nox4 was found to be non-functional [73]. The function or expression pattern of Nox5, which has been studied most intensively, is the activity of this enzyme during the course of mammalian sperm maturation (excluding, of course, rodents) with a peak in pachytene [72]. Although the Nox5 mRNA shows a peak in pachytene that is no longer present in later stages of sperm maturation, the enzyme seems to be present in mature sperm and necessary for capacitation [75, 76].

However, the enzyme is also highly expressed in the germinal centers of lymph nodes and spleen, possibly in maturing B and T cells [72, 74], but not in circulating mature B and T cells. It has been found in various other fetal and adult tissues as well as in cancer cell lines [74].

Duox1 and Duox2: These two Nox homologs of humans (and of mammals in general) are both located predominantly in the apical plasma membrane of thyroid gland epithelial cells and share similar structural properties; however, they are functionally diverse. Both enzymes are N-glycosylated, stored in the ER, and transported to their final location via the Golgi apparatus with the help of two maturation factors, DUOXA1 and DUOXA2 [77]. They bind Ca⁺⁺ ions in their EF-hand domains, contain a seventh transmembrane helix connected to an extracellular N-terminal peroxidase domain, and do not appear to require cytoplasmic activating subunits. The requirement for the membrane-bound p22 subunit is controversial in the literature [10]. As a separate thyroid peroxidase is needed for the synthesis of thyroxine by Duox2, the functionality and requirement of the peroxidase domain of DUOX2 is also somewhat controversial, as judged from congenital forms of thyroid deficiency [78, 79]. The two enzymes are encoded side by side on human chromosome 15 and are divergently transcribed from structurally different promoters. Duox2 is expressed in the thyroid cells’ apical membrane, in salivary glands, in airway epithelia, and in the prostate. Its physiological function clearly involves thyroxine synthesis, although the mechanistic details of the iodination reaction are unknown. A second function of Duox2 has been found more recently in a host defense reaction in airway epithelia and in epithelia of the gastrointestinal tract [80] and, together with Nox4, in cell cycle regulation of dermal fibroblasts through the p53 checkpoint system [81].

Duox1 is likewise expressed in the thyroid, airway epithelia, and prostate. The function of Duox1 in the thyroid gland is unknown. However, two very interesting new findings point to a possible role of this enzyme. A detailed study of the role of this enzyme in signal transduction in relation to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) revealed that the target of ROS signaling is not only the PTP (discussed above), but also the non-receptor tyrosine kinase, src, and the EGFR tyrosine kinase through sulfenylation of Cys⁷⁹⁷ by H₂O₂ [82]. Both DUOX1 and Nox2 were responsible for this process in airway epithelial cells. Another highly interesting pathophysiological role for DUOX1 was revealed in the generation of ionizing radiation (IR)-induced thyroid cell genomic instability and cancer induction [83]. Thyroid glands and thyroid cells in vitro maintain a high DUOX1 activity for many days after IR exposure controlled by interleukin(IL)-13 and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) p38, which leads to H₂O₂ production causing DNA strand breaks, chromosome translocation, and cancer development. Of course, the connection of this interesting phenomenon to the physiological role of DUOX1 in the thyroid is unknown at present.

During the authors’ studies of yeast aging and apoptosis, a puzzling phenomenon was discovered: the well-known “oncogenic” point mutation, RAS2^{ala18, val19} led not only to unregulated growth signaling, lack of reserve cabohydrates, and a very short chronological lifespan (i. e., a defect of stationary phase survival), but also to death through apoptosis concomitant with a high level of superoxide production as discovered by dihydro ethidium (DHE) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy monitoring [84, 85]. This observation was in perfect agreement with the discovery of oncogene-induced senescence in human cells expressing the homologous human Ha-ras^val12 oncogenic point mutation [86]. More surprisingly, when the yeast cells expressing the dominant oncogenic version of RAS2 were made rho-zero and could no longer produce superoxide in the respiratory chain, the ROS signal observed in these cells was unchanged and equally as high as in the respiring rho-plus cells, while the control cells (RAS2 wild type) showed no such signal (Fig. 5; [85]). Seeing this, the authors decided to overexpress under galactose control all yeast genes that showed a marked sequence similarity to the catalytic subunit of human Nox2 and to monitor superoxide production during growth on galactose. The result was that only one of the nine open reading frames (ORFs) studied showed a strong production of superoxide (monitored by DHE fluorescence measurements and EPR spectroscopy). The authors named this gene YNO1 (for yeast NADPH oxidase 1) and studied it in detail in vivo and in vitro [8]. The enzyme is located in the ER in growing and stationary yeast cells on glucose or on non-fermentable carbon sources. Purified microsomes from these cells and also purification of the enzyme and insertion into liposomes enabled in vitro studies showing specificity for NADPH with very little activity when NADH was used as an electron donor. The sequence of YNO1 clearly showed that all known signature sequence elements of Nox enzymes were present (Fig. 3) and that a phylogenetic tree based on the neighbor joining method (Fig. 6) identified YNO1 as member of a fungal subfamily of IMR proteins that showed little relationship with the previously known fungal Nox subfamilies, NoxA, B, and C (see legend to Fig. 6).

All other previously known fungal Nox proteins were found to be involved in multicelllular functions such as: plant pathogenicity [87] and cell differentiation like formation of the female sex organs and ascospore germination [88]. However, S. cerevisiae is a monocellular yeast and therefore the previously held notion of “NADPH oxidase: an enzyme for multicellularity” [89] is incorrect.

The physiological function of YNO1 was studied on the one hand in situations where the yeast cells commit suicide, a process that is under genetic control and could even be advantageous for the yeast strain [90] or in situations where a profound metabolic restructuring is required, for instance during the diauxic shift when glucose is near exhaustion and the cells need to adapt to other respiratory carbon sources. Two papers appeared subsequent to the identification of YNO1 as a Nox enzyme and shall be briefly summarized here. Leadsham et al. [91] showed that Yno1 in wild type cells is rapidly degraded by ERAD, but in respiratory-deficient cox4 deletion strains this degradation is blocked, the cells express a high level of ROS originating from Yno1 and are killed by yeast apoptosis. Conversely, if also the RAS2 gene is deleted in addition, Yno1 is degraded and the cells survive. These complex and interesting findings, among other things, shed light on the function of the yeast RAS2 gene. Reddi et al. [92] showed that the yeast casein kinase γ orthologs, YCK1 and YCK2, are regulated by Yno1 in conjuction with Sod1 (the cytosplasmic Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase). Yno1 is closely coordinated with Sod1 at the ER, where the yeast casein kinases are also located. The efficient, local, and transitory production of H₂O₂ stabilizes Yck1 and Yck2, preventing their destruction through the C‑terminal degron. This mechanism leads to respiratory repression and aerobic glycolysis, similar to the mammalian Warburg effect.

On the other hand, a number of published and unpublished results gained in the authors’ laboratory in close collaboration with the laboratory of Paul Cullen (Buffalo, N.Y.) point to the connection between Yno1 activity and the restructuring of the yeast cell’s actin cytoskeleton.

Some evidence points to the fact that Yno1 is an enzyme involved in regulation of the actin cytoskeleton of yeast cells under conditions of stress where a restructuring of the actin cytoskeleton is necessary and that the relevant product of Yno1 is H₂O₂. The deletion of Yno1 is supersensitive to the drugs wiskostatin and latrunculin B and a low non-toxic concentration of H₂O₂ added in the culture media can restore growth under these conditions ([8]; Fig. 7). Latrunculin B at a concentration inhibiting growth leads to a complete loss of acin cables, while the F‑actin dots in the daughter cells are still visible. The addition of 0.4 mM H₂O₂ for only 10 min reverses this phenotype (Fig. 7). Restructuring of the actin cytoskeleton is a process needed for endocytosis and for the formation of pseudohyphae in strains derived from the Σ1278b strain that is closer to the S. cerevisiae wild type than the usual laboratory strains like BY4741. Deleting YNO1 in such a strain leads to a marked defect in invasive growth and in pseudohyphae formation under special starvation conditions, which is the most common way of inducing pseudohyphae (unpublished results). The unpublished results and phenotypes described above are enhanced if the cells are made respiratory-deficient in addition to the YNO1 deletion, pointing to the possibility that H₂O₂ production from YNO1 and from the mitochondrial respiratory chain are synergistic for the signal transduction and actin-regulatory processes discovered.

Sequence comparisons of Yno1 with all seven human Nox enzymes show that Nox4 displays by far the largest similarity in sequence with Yno1 [93]. In both established tumor cell lines that the authors (HepG2 and SH-SY5Y), the enzyme, Nox4, was strongly expressed as compared with non-tumorous material from the same organ, and located in the ER, like the yeast enzyme. RNA interference (RNAi) experiments showed that transcriptional down-regulation of Nox4 led to the weakening or disappearance of actin stress fibers. This effect was again, like in the yeast cells, reversible by adding a low non-toxic H₂O₂ concentration. Scratch assays showed in the case of the SH-SY5Y cells that inhibiting Nox4, which leads to a loss of actin cytoskeleton restructuring, led to a loss of cell mobility (Fig. 8). As it is well known that cell mobility depends on the restructuring of the actin cytoskeleton and is essential for the process of metastasis, the authors propose here, like other authors [94], to study Nox4 as a drug target in cancer therapy. At present, there are no known pharmacological inhibitors that are specific for Nox4; however, such a substance would be highly desirable for a new concept of tumor therapy.