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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Nov 1.
Published in final edited form as: Trends Biochem Sci. 2015 Oct 1;40(11):687–700. doi: 10.1016/j.tibs.2015.08.007

Figure 2. Sulfhydration regulates expression of genes involved in mitochondrial metabolism.

Figure 2

(A) Interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF-1) is a transcriptional repressor of the DNA methyltransferase 3a (Dnmt-3a). IRF-1 is regulated by sulfhydration. When H2S levels and consequently sulfhydration levels are low, IRF-1 is unable to bind its site on the Dnmt-3a promoter, leading to increased expression of Dnmt-3a, which methylates its target promoters, including the mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), leading to reduced mitochondrial biogenesis. (B) When H2S production is increased, it sulfhydrates IRF-1 and enhances its interaction with the Dnmt-3a promoter to repress its expression. Consequently, methylation of the TFAM promoter is decreased, leading to a higher expression of TFAM and increased mitochondrial biogenesis.