Sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase drives mitochondrial supersulfide metabolism to regulate bioenergetics and longevity in eukaryotes
mice exhibited accumulated levels of hydrogen sulfide and persulfides, and demonstrated impaired mitochondrial energy metabolism. Furthermore, supersulfide donor supplementation selectively conferred lifespan extension in wild-type yeast, but not in SQR-deficient strain, and similarly improved mitochondrial function exclusively in wild-type mouse embryonic fibroblasts, with no benefit observed in SQR-mutant counterparts. Together, our findings demonstrate that mitochondrial SQR plays an essential role in sulfur respiration, critically supporting mitochondrial function and organismal longevity across eukaryotes.
Authors
- Tomoaki Ida (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4443-6127)
- Uladzimir Barayeu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8426-166X)
- Seiryo Ogata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5422-7823)
- Meg Shieh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0483-5000)
- Tetsuro Matsunaga
- J. M. Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9505-1852)
- Tsuyoshi Takata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6691-2569)
- Masanobu Morita (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5259-5371)
- Hozumi Motohashi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7261-1033)
- Akira Nishimura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0168-9829)
- Minkyung Jung
- Takaaki Akaike
Institutions
- Iwate University (JP)
- Tohoku University (JP)
- Akita University (JP)
- Brown University (US)
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-04-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.05.716515
- Primary Topic
- Mitochondrial Function and Pathology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- National Institutes of Health
- Japan Science and Technology Agency
- Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology