TOXI 122 |
| Free radical initiated oxidation of proteins stemming from either diet, the environment, or a disease is a serious health risk, particularly when the capacity of cellular control and repair systems is exceeded. Some of the most devastating outcomes are the introduction of carbonyl and nitro groups into proteins that either alters their biological activity, causes them to cross-link with other biological macromolecules, or trigger their degradation by proteosomes. Because this oxidative process is non-enzymatically driven it should theoretically occur randomly in proteins throughout cells. This paper will focus on the development of methods that enable oxidized proteins to be selected from complex biological extracts and identified along with sites of oxidation. Use of these methods in the study of three types of biological problems will be reported; environmental oxidative stress in yeast, protein oxidation in Parkinsion's disease, and aging. In all three cases it will be shown that oxidation is relatively specific and multiple amino acids are altered within a small number of specific structural domains. The presentation will end with a discussion of the probable differences in oxidative stress mechanisms in neurological diseases and aging. |
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Mass Spectrometry of DNA and Protein Damages
8:10 AM-11:55 AM, Wednesday, August 22, 2007 BCEC -- 258C, Oral
Division of Chemical Toxicology |