Carotenoids are widely used as important micronutrients in food. Furthermore, carotenoid supplementation has been used in the treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress. However, in some clinical studies harmful effects have been observed, for example, a higher incidence of lung cancer in individuals exposed to extraordinary oxidative stress. The causal mechanisms are still unclear....

The complement system plays an important role in the initial defense against Neisseria meningitidis. In contrast, uncontrolled activation in meningococcal sepsis contributes to the development of tissue damage and shock. In a novel human whole blood model of meningococcal sepsis, we studied the effect of complement inhibition on inflammation and bacterial killing. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) b...

A random screening of human blood samples from 24 individuals of nonsmoker was conducted to examine the correlation between the oxidative DNA damage level of lymphocytes and the antioxidant capacity of serum or the base excision repair (BER) activity of lymphocytes. The oxidative DNA damage level was measured with comet assay containing Fpg/Endo III cleavage, and the BER activity was estimated ...

The discovery of lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) as monocopper enzymes for the oxidative cleavage glycosidic bonds in recalcitrant polysaccharides has revolutionized our understanding enzymatic biomass conversion. In recent years, debate regarding whether LPMOs function or peroxygenases generated significant interest due to its implications mechanisms involved LPMO-mediated lignocel...

A method to oxidatively cleave allyl ethers to their corresponding aldehydes mediated by an oxoammonium salt is described. Using a biphasic solvent system and mild heating, cleavage proceeds readily, furnishing a variety of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones.

Substitutions on the benzene ring of nitrosobenzene did not have the same effect on oxidative haemolysis as substitutions on phenylhydrazine. We previously found that the haemolytic effect of arylhydrazines paralleled their oxidative conversion into ligands of ferrihaemoglobin. In contrast, although most substituted nitrosobenzenes that are ligands of ferrohaemoglobin caused haemolysis and most...

Leishmaniasis, a vector-borne disease, is caused by intracellular parasite Leishmania donovani. Unlike most pathogens, donovani are lodged in parasitophorous vacuoles and replicate within the phagolysosomes macrophages. Effective vaccines against this disease still under development, while efficacy of available drugs being questioned owing to toxicity for nonspecific distribution human physiolo...

Superoxide reacts with catechol in dimethylsulfoxide to form a yellow product. The structure of this product was established by different methods. UV-spectra of the yellow compound corre­ sponded under all circumstances to those of enzymatically produced 2-hydroxymuconic acid semialdehyde. In the presence of ammonia the product was converted to picolinic acid. The UV spectra, the retention time...

Incubation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) with endothelial cells converts it to a form that is avidly degraded by macrophages via the acetyl LDL receptor. This modification has previously been shown to be accompanied by extensive breakdown of the major LDL protein (apoB-100) to smaller peptides. ApoB-100 is known to undergo partial degradation during isolation and purification which is common...

The DNA cleavage activity of iron(II) complexes of a series of monotopic pentadentate N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-N-bis(2-pyridyl)methylamine (N4Py)-derived ligands (1-5) was investigated under laser irradiation at 473, 400.8, and 355 nm in the absence of a reducing agent and compared to that under ambient lighting. A significant increase in activity was observed under laser irradiation, which is ...