Hydrogen peroxide appears to be the key reactive oxygen species involved in redox signalling, but comparisons of the low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide that are calculated to exist within cells with those previously shown to activate common signalling events in vitro indicate that direct oxidation of key thiol groups on “redox-sensitive” signalling proteins is unlikely to occur. A number of potential mechanisms have been proposed to explain how cells overcome this block to hydrogen peroxide-stimulated redox signalling and these will be discussed in the context of the redox-stimulation of specific adaptations of skeletal muscle to contractile activity and exercise. It is argued that current data implicate a role for currently unidentified effector molecules (likely to be highly reactive peroxidases) in propagation of the redox signal from sites of hydrogen peroxide generation to common adaptive signalling pathways.

过氧化氢似乎是参与氧化还原信号传导的关键活性氧，但将计算存在于细胞内的低浓度过氧化氢与先前显示的在体外激活常见信号传导事件的过氧化氢进行比较表明，关键硫醇基团的直接氧化对“氧化还原敏感”信号蛋白的影响不太可能发生。已经提出了许多潜在的机制来解释细胞如何克服对过氧化氢刺激的氧化还原信号传导的阻碍，这些将在骨骼肌对收缩活动和运动的特定适应的氧化还原刺激的背景下进行讨论。有人认为，目前的数据暗示了目前未识别的效应分子（可能是高反应性过氧化物酶）在氧化还原信号从过氧化氢生成位点传播到常见适应性信号传导途径中的作用。