The Free Energy of the Sulfhydryl-Disulfide Oxidation-Reduction System and its Physiological Significance

Citation

Ellis, Emory Leon (1934) The Free Energy of the Sulfhydryl-Disulfide Oxidation-Reduction System and its Physiological Significance. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/b5h3-tw60. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechTHESIS:03132024-205158064

Abstract

[Summary]

Complete thermodynamic data are presented concerning two organic sulfhydryl-disulfide oxidation-reduction systems (cysteine: cystine and β-thiolactic acid: ββ'-dithiodilactic acid). These data include heat capacity measurements on the crystalline substances from 90° to 298° K, heat of combustion determinations, solubility measurements and determinations of the ionization constants of dissociable groups in the molecules.

The method of calculating from these data the reduction potential for any conditions of concentration, pH, and temperature is discussed. The results of such calculations for several sets of conditions are submitted.

The relationship of the sulfhydryl-disulfide system to the process of cell division is discussed and experimental evidence is submitted which shows that sulfhydryl substances have no direct connection with the process of cell division.

The role of oxidation-reduction systems in intracellular metabolism is discussed. From the available experimental data relating to the function of -SH substances in living tissue, an hypothesis of the general function of these substances is developed and discussed.

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