Role of Nrf2 and Its Activators in Cardiocerebral Vascular Disease

Table 1

Typical downstream target proteins regulated by the Nrf2 signaling pathway.

Antioxidative or cytoprotective proteins	Function
HO-1	The rate-limiting enzyme in the process of heme catabolism; it converts heme to biliverdin.
NQO1	A flavin adenine dinucleotide-binding protein forms homodimers and reduces quinones to hydroquinones.
γ-Glutamylcysteine synthetase	Catalyzes and regulates GSH biosynthesis and posttranslational levels.
Glutathione peroxidase 1	An important peroxidase in the body. It can catalyze GSH into oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and reduce toxic peroxides to nontoxic hydroxyl compounds.
GSTs	Key enzymes in the GSH-binding reaction. They catalyze the initial steps of the GSH-binding reaction and are mainly present in the cytosol.
GR	An enzyme that uses NADPH to catalyze GSSG into reduced GSH.
SOD	An antioxidant metalloenzyme capable of catalyzing a disproportionation of superoxide anion radicals to oxygen and hydrogen peroxide.
Trx	A protein disulfide reductase that is itself reduced by thioredoxin reductase.
Catalase	A highly efficient enzyme that reduces H2O2 to water and oxygen with Fe at the catalytic site.
Glutamate-cysteine ligase	Converts glutamate and cysteine into γ-glutamylcysteine and catalyzes the first step of glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis.
Prx	A class of peroxidase widely present in prokaryotes and eukaryotes that scavenge ROS.