The principal reactions that maintain redox homeostasis in living systems are the
deprotonation of thiols, followed by the oxidative conversion of the produced thiolates
into disulfides, which thus reduce the harmful oxidizing agents. The various biological
thiols have different molecule-specific propensities to carry on the co-dependent
deprotonation and redox processes. This study utilizes the known correlation between
thiolate basicities and oxidizabilities, to quantify antioxidant or reducing capacities
and pH-dependences of thiol–disulfide antioxidant systems, as a tool to find adequate
molecules against oxidative stress.
