MPST Gene

Name	mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase
Description	This protein encoded by this gene catalyzes the transfer of a sulfur ion from 3-mercaptopyruvate to cyanide or other thiol compounds. It may be involved in cysteine degradation and cyanide detoxification. There is confusion in literature between this protein (mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase, MPST), which appears to be cytoplasmic, and thiosulfate sulfurtransferase (rhodanese, TST, GeneID:7263), which is a mitochondrial protein. Deficiency in MPST activity has been implicated in a rare inheritable disorder known as mercaptolactate-cysteine disulfiduria (MCDU). Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding same or different isoforms have been identified for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nMercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MPST) is a versatile enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of 3‐mercaptopyruvate to pyruvate with concomitant formation of a protein-bound persulfide, thereby contributing to the endogenous generation of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) – a redox‐active signaling molecule. In addition, MPST plays roles in sulfur transfer reactions that support tRNA thiolation and the biosynthesis of the molybdenum cofactor. Distinct splice variants localize either exclusively to the cytosol or to both the cytosol and mitochondria, suggesting that compartment-specific functions may underlie its participation in varied sulfur transfer processes."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "1", "end_ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n\n"}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nIn neoplastic and vascular contexts, MPST emerges as a primary pathway for sulfane sulfur formation. In several human cancer cell lines, its activity exceeds that of alternative enzymes—highlighting its central role in cellular sulfur metabolism—while in coronary arteries, MPST-derived H₂S, rather than H₂S produced via cystathionine-γ-lyase, modulates vasorelaxation by interacting directly with nitric oxide. These findings underscore MPST’s importance in maintaining cellular energetic balance and in contributing to vascular tone."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "4"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n\n"}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nBeyond its metabolic and signaling roles, MPST is implicated in disease pathogenesis and cellular phenotype regulation. Reduced or aberrant MPST activity has been linked to conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and hepatocellular or colorectal carcinomas, where decreased enzyme activity associates with metabolic shifts—such as lowered ATP levels, enhanced reactive oxygen species production, alterations in mitochondrial dynamics, and increased apoptosis. Furthermore, suppression of MPST in lineage-restricted fibroblasts can induce a less differentiated, more plastic state marked by upregulation of pluripotency-associated genes, suggesting that modulation of MPST activity may also influence reprogramming processes in regenerative settings."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "6", "end_ref": "9"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Pramod Kumar Yadav, Kazuhiro Yamada, Taurai Chiku, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Structure and kinetic analysis of H2S production by human mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Biol Chem (2013)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1074/jbc.M113.466177"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M113.466177"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "23698001"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23698001"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Benjamin Fräsdorf, Christin Radon, Silke Leimkühler "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Characterization and interaction studies of two isoforms of the dual localized 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase TUM1 from humans."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Biol Chem (2014)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1074/jbc.M114.605733"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M114.605733"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "25336638"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25336638"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Pramod Kumar Yadav, Victor Vitvitsky, Sebastián Carballal, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Thioredoxin regulates human mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase at physiologically-relevant concentrations."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Biol Chem (2020)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1074/jbc.RA120.012616"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.RA120.012616"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "32179647"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32179647"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Halina Jurkowska, Wojciech Placha, Noriuki Nagahara, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "The expression and activity of cystathionine-γ-lyase and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase in human neoplastic cell lines."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Amino Acids (2011)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1007/s00726-010-0606-3"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-010-0606-3"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "20446008"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20446008"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Maggie M Kuo, Dae Hee Kim, Sandeep Jandu, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "MPST but not CSE is the primary regulator of hydrogen sulfide production and function in the coronary artery."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol (2016)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1152/ajpheart.00574.2014"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00574.2014"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "26519030"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26519030"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 6, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Elena A Ostrakhovitch, Shin Akakura, Reiko Sanokawa-Akakura, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "3-Mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase disruption in dermal fibroblasts facilitates adipogenic trans-differentiation."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Exp Cell Res (2019)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.yexcr.2019.111683"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yexcr.2019.111683"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "31634482"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31634482"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 7, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Meng Li, Xin Song, Qi Jin, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "3-Mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase represses tumour progression and predicts prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Liver Int (2022)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1111/liv.15228"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/liv.15228"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "35243746"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35243746"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 8, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Jie Zhang, Li Cen, Xiaofen Zhang, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "MPST deficiency promotes intestinal epithelial cell apoptosis and aggravates inflammatory bowel disease via AKT."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Redox Biol (2022)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.redox.2022.102469"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2022.102469"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "36126419"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36126419"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 9, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Katarina Matyasova, Andrea Soltysova, Petr Babula, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Role of the 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase in colon/colorectal cancers."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Eur J Cell Biol (2024)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.ejcb.2024.151415"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcb.2024.151415"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "38631098"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38631098"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	TUM1, TST2
Proteins	THTM_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	4357
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

MPST has 6,078 functional associations with biological entities spanning 9 categories (molecular profile, organism, chemical, functional term, phrase or reference, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA, sequence feature) extracted from 118 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for MPST from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

MPST Gene

Functional Associations

Please acknowledge the Harmonizome in your publications by citing the following reference(s):

	Dataset	Summary
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of MPST gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of MPST gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray	tissue samples with high or low expression of MPST gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq	tissue samples with high or low expression of MPST gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of MPST gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of MPST gene relative to other cell lines from the BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of MPST gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of MPST gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of MPST gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of MPST gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Proteomics	Cell lines associated with MPST protein from the CCLE Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with MPST gene from the CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of MPST gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of MPST gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022	transcription factors binding the promoter of MPST gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
	CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules	small molecule perturbations changing expression of MPST gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing MPST protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing MPST protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing MPST protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing MPST protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with MPST protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components co-occuring with MPST protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of MPST gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with MPST gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with MPST gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with MPST gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency	cell lines with fitness changed by MPST gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases associated with MPST gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases co-occuring with MPST gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases co-occuring with MPST gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with MPST gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with MPST gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Phenoptype Associations dataset.
	ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles	histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at MPST gene from the ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of MPST gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of MPST gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing MPST from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
	GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with MPST gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of MPST gene relative to other cell lines from the GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations	biological terms co-occuring with MPST gene in literature-supported statements describing functions of genes from the GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations dataset.
	GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing MPST from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset.