The era in which ROS (reactive oxygen species) were simply the ‘bad boys of biology’ is clearly over. High levels of ROS are still rightfully considered to be toxic to many cellular processes and, as such, contribute to disease conditions and cell death. However, the high toxicity of ROS is also extremely beneficial, particularly as it is used to kill invading micro-organisms during mammalian host defence. Moreover, a transient, often more localized, increase in ROS levels appears to play a major role in signal transduction processes and positively affects cell growth, development and differentiation. At the heart of all these processes are redox-regulated proteins, which use oxidation-sensitive cysteine residues to control their function and by extension the function of the pathways that they are part of. Our work has contributed to changing the view about ROS through: (i) our characterization of Hsp33 (heat-shock protein 33), one of the first redox-regulated proteins identified, whose function is specifically activated by ROS, (ii) the development of quantitative tools that reveal extensive redox-sensitive processes in bacteria and eukaryotes, and (iii) the discovery of a link between early exposure to oxidants and aging. Our future research programme aims to generate an integrated and system-wide view of the beneficial and deleterious effects of ROS with the central goal to develop more effective antioxidant strategies and more powerful antimicrobial agents.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
August 2014
-
Cover Image
Cover Image
- PDF Icon PDF LinkFront Matter
- PDF Icon PDF LinkTable of Contents
Conference Article|
August 11 2014
About the dangers, costs and benefits of living an aerobic lifestyle
Daniela Knoefler;
Daniela Knoefler
*Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
Lars I.O. Leichert;
Lars I.O. Leichert
1
*Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
Maike Thamsen;
Maike Thamsen
2
*Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
Claudia M. Cremers;
Claudia M. Cremers
*Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
Dana Reichmann;
Dana Reichmann
3
*Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
Michael J. Gray;
Michael J. Gray
*Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
Wei-Yun Wholey;
Wei-Yun Wholey
4
*Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
Ursula Jakob
Ursula Jakob
5
*Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A.
†Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A.
5To whom correspondence should be addressed (emailujakob@umich.edu).
Search for other works by this author on:
Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
April 25 2014
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2014 Biochemical Society
2014
Biochem Soc Trans (2014) 42 (4): 917–921.
Article history
Received:
April 25 2014
Citation
Daniela Knoefler, Lars I.O. Leichert, Maike Thamsen, Claudia M. Cremers, Dana Reichmann, Michael J. Gray, Wei-Yun Wholey, Ursula Jakob; About the dangers, costs and benefits of living an aerobic lifestyle. Biochem Soc Trans 1 August 2014; 42 (4): 917–921. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20140108
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign in to your personal account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Captcha Validation Error. Please try again.