NAC

NAC (N-acetyl-L-cysteine) is the N-acetyl derivative of L-cysteine and one of the most widely used antioxidants in experimental cell and animal biology. Researchers have examined N-acetylcysteine as a glutathione precursor, as a disulfide-reducing agent, as a source of hydrogen sulfide and sulfane sulfur species inside cells, and as a modulator of cystine-glutamate exchange in rodent brain. Research Market supplies NAC as a characterized research reagent, with identity and purity data for each lot reported on its certificate of analysis. It is sold strictly for laboratory research use.

Chemical structure and identification

• Molecular formula: C₅H₉NO₃S
• Molecular weight: 163.20 g/mol
• CAS number: 616-91-1
• PubChem CID: 12035
• Synonyms: N-acetylcysteine, acetylcysteine, N-acetyl-L-cysteine
• Form: Supplied in a sealed research vial
• Analytical methods: Identity and purity data reported on the batch certificate of analysis

Research applications

• Glutathione precursor and disulfide reduction: Reviewed as a reduced glutathione precursor and as an agent that breaks disulfide bonds in thiolated proteins, releasing free thiols; the same disulfide-breaking chemistry accounts for its mucolytic activity [1]
• Hydrogen sulfide and sulfane sulfur: In cultured cells, NAC-derived cysteine was desulfurated to hydrogen sulfide, which was oxidized to sulfane sulfur species, mainly within mitochondria [2]
• Mechanism of action: A review examining which conventional assumptions about NAC (reductant, oxidant scavenger, glutathione precursor) hold, and the scope of its conversion to H₂S and per- and polysulfides [3]
• Cystine-glutamate exchange (system x_c⁻): In rats trained to self-administer cocaine, NAC pretreatment attenuated cocaine-primed reinstatement, an effect reversed by infusing the system x_c⁻ inhibitor CPG into the nucleus accumbens [4]

Reference citations

1. Aldini G. et al. (2018). N-Acetylcysteine as an antioxidant and disulphide breaking agent: the reasons why. Free Radic Res, 52(7):751–762. PMID 29742938 · DOI
2. Ezeriņa D. et al. (2018). N-Acetyl Cysteine Functions as a Fast-Acting Antioxidant by Triggering Intracellular H₂S and Sulfane Sulfur Production. Cell Chem Biol, 25(4):447–459.e4. PMID 29429900 · DOI
3. Pedre B. et al. (2021). The mechanism of action of N-acetylcysteine (NAC): The emerging role of H₂S and sulfane sulfur species. Pharmacol Ther, 228:107916. PMID 34171332 · DOI
4. Kau K.S. et al. (2008). Blunted cystine-glutamate antiporter function in the nucleus accumbens promotes cocaine-induced drug seeking. Neuroscience, 155(2):530–537. PMID 18601982 · DOI

Compound data from PubChem CID 12035. Literature summaries describe published preclinical research and are not claims about this product’s effects in humans or animals.