A novel method for the analysis of 3-mercaptopyruvate using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

• The presented method is useful to investigate the 3-mercaptopyruvate pathway.
• The method contributes to resolve 3MST pathway, which is a route of H2S generation.
• This novel method is relatively simple to perform and yields high sensitivity.

3-Mercaptopyruvate (3-MP) is a metabolite of cysteine present in mammalian tissues and is known to be a substrate of 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3MST, EC.3.4.1.2). The physiological relevance of the 3-MP pathway has not been fully recognized because the metabolic behavior of 3-MP remains unclear. Here, we describe a novel method using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection to measure 3-MP formation from cysteine. To demonstrate the practical value of the present method, we applied it to analyze the 3-MP produced in biological samples from mouse tissue.