Bdelloid rotifers, a class of freshwater invertebrates, are extraordinarily resistant to ionizing radiation (IR). Their radioresistance is not caused by reduced susceptibility to DNA double-strand breakage for IR makes double-strand breaks (DSBs) in bdelloids with essentially the same efficiency as in other species, regardless of radiosensitivity. Instead, we find that the bdelloid Adineta vaga...

Carbonylation of proteins is an irreversible oxidative damage, often leading to a loss of protein function, which is considered a widespread indicator of severe oxidative damage and disease-derived protein dysfunction. Whereas moderately carbonylated proteins are degraded by the proteasomal system, heavily carbonylated proteins tend to form high-molecular-weight aggregates that are resistant to...

Curcumin, belonging to a class of natural phenol compounds, has been extensively studied due to its antioxidative, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antineurodegenerative effects. Recently, it has been shown to exert dual activities after irradiation, radioprotection, and radiosensitization. Here, we investigated the protective effect of curcumin against radiation damage using D. melanogaster....

Although the Greek physician Galenos (129 to 216 AD) recognized early that ventilation of the lungs is important for the transfer of an unknown substance from the air into the blood, it took surprisingly long to discover that oxygen is a major “fuel” for our metabolism that oxidizes nutrients to generate chemical energy. Even William Harvey in his famous work about the circulatory system publis...