Insect Peroxiredoxins: A Comprehensive Review of Their Classification, Distribution, Structural Features, Expression Profiles and Physiological Functions

TL;DR

This paper reviews insect peroxiredoxins, enzymes that help combat oxidative stress and play roles in development, immunity, and pest resistance.

Contribution

The paper provides the first systematic review of peroxiredoxin expression and functions across insect tissues, stages, and sexes.

Findings

Peroxiredoxins are crucial for antioxidant defense, development, and stress adaptation in insects.

Expression of Prxs varies across tissues, developmental stages, and sexes in insects.

Prxs are linked to immune response and insecticide resistance in various insect species.

Abstract

Peroxiredoxins (Prxs), initially identified in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, are a superfamily of cysteine-dependent peroxidases that play a crucial role in the defense against oxidative stress in various organisms, including insects. Prxs protect cells from oxidative damage by neutralizing reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are byproducts of normal cellular metabolism. Prxs have been found to be widely expressed in various developmental stages and tissues of insects, suggesting that Prxs perform different physiological functions. This review summarizes the nomenclature, structure, classification, expression profiles and physiological functions of Prxs in insects. This comprehensive understanding of Prxs in insects not only aids in the development of new pest management strategies, but also contributes to a broader understanding of insect biology and ecology.

With the development of technology, an increasing amount of literature regarding the expression profiles and physiological functions of Prxs has been published. Despite this growing interest, there is currently no systematic review of expression profiles in different insects. Here, we performed a systematic review of the available literature on the location and expression of Prxs in different tissues, developmental stages and sexes in insects. Recent studies on the structure, expression profiles and functional characterization of Prxs provide valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms and functional pathways of this important enzyme family. In insects, Prxs are crucial for antioxidant defense, development, stress adaptation, cell apoptosis, immune response and insecticide resistance. This systematic review provides an overview of the various functions of Prxs as reported in the literature and highlights that many environmental stresses induce changes in Prxs expression levels. Furthermore, we present perspectives on future research directions regarding insect Prxs and discuss their potential applications in pest control.

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