Redox regulation by glutathione needs enzymes

The GSH/GSSG redox potential has become a fashionable electrochemical parameter believed to be a major driving force of redox reactions regulating biological events (Schafer and Buettner, 2001; Jones, 2006; Blanco et al., 2007; Chaiswing et al., 2012). Here, we will challenge this concept, because we consider it an untenable simplification that ignores kinetic constrains and detracts the attention from more important, though more complex, catalytic events. The focus of this article is the importance of reaction kinetics vs. thermodynamics in the redox regulation of biological systems. © 2014 Berndt, Lillig and Flohé.