Ebselen: A Promising Repurposing Drug to Treat Infections Caused by Multidrug-Resistant Microorganisms

Figure 2

General components of the thioredoxin system (top) and glutaredoxin system (bottom). TrxR: thioredoxin reductase; Trx: thioredoxin; GR: glutathione reductase; GSH: glutathione; GSSG: oxidized GSH; Grx: glutaredoxin. TrxR catalyzes the electron transfer from NADPH to Trx, which then reduces downstream targets. GR catalyzes the reduction of GSSG to GSH, which can be used by GSH-dependent enzymes, such as Grx. In prokaryotes, ebselen acts as a TrxR inhibitor, leading to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species. GSH-negative bacteria, such as Gram-positive, are most affected by ebselen.