Trypanothione reductase (TR) is an essential enzyme of trypanosomatids and therefore a promising target for the development of new drugs against African sleeping sickness and Chagas' disease. Diaryl sulfides with a central anilino moiety, decorated with a flexible N-alkyl side chain bearing a terminal ammonium ion, are a known class of inhibitors. Using computer modelling, we revised the bindin...

Radiation is an important source of free radicals in living systems. Ionizing radiations such as γ-rays exert their biological effects through generation of reactive oxygen species and the resultant damage to DNA and cellular membranes. Several natural compounds, especially with antioxidant abilities are known to be radioprotective. Baicalein (5,6,7-trihydroxy-2-phenyl-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one), a...

There is a great demand for development of catalyst systems that are not only efficient and highly enantioselective but are also environmentally benign. Herein we report investigations into the catalytic asymmetric addition of alkyl and functionalized alkyl groups to ketones under highly concentrated and solvent-free conditions. In comparison with standard reaction conditions employing toluene ...

Chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients increase erythrocyte susceptibility to hemolysis and impair cell survival. We explored whether electrolyte-reduced water (ERW) could palliate HD-evoked erythrocyte impairment and anemia. Forty-three patients undergoing chronic HD were enrolled and received ERW administration for 6 month. We evaluated oxidative stress in blood and plasma, erythrocyte methemoglo...

Treatment of cytochrome P-450 2B4 (P-450 2B4) with diethylpyrocarbonate to introduce 10-11 equivalents of acylating agent per polypeptide chain resulted in the selective derivatization of histidine residues characterized by differential susceptibility toward the modifier. Second-derivative spectral analysis as well as fluorescence measurements disproved gross alterations in P-450 2B4 structure ...

Proteases are a ubiquitous group of enzymes that play key roles in the life cycle of parasites, in the host-parasite relationship, and in the pathogenesis of parasitic diseases. Furthermore, proteases are druggable targets for the development of new anti-parasitic therapy. The subtilisin protease (SUB; Clan SB, family S8) of Leishmania donovani was cloned and found to possess a unique catalytic...

D.R. Spitz et al. (eds.), Oxidative Stress in Cancer Biology and Therapy, Oxidative Stress in Applied Basic Research and Clinical Practice, DOI 10.1007/978-1-61779-397-4_2, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 Abstract Glucose metabolism plays an important role in hydroperoxide detoxifi cation and the inhibition of glucose metabolism has been shown to increase prooxidant production and c...