Altered antioxidant status has been reported in schizophrenia. The glutathione (GSH) redox system is important for reducing oxidative stress. GSH, a radical scavenger, is converted to oxidized glutathione (GSSG) through glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and converted back to GSH by glutathione reductase (GR). Measurements of GSH, GSSG and its related enzymatic reactions are thus important for evalu...

Arrays of chemical oxidants are produced in healthy cells, where they function as important signaling molecules that are crucial in homeostatic regulation and cellular adaptation. The molecular basis of “redox signaling” is a series of oxido-reductive chemical reactions in which oxidants or reductants posttranslationally alter the structure of proteins. These modifications equate to signal sens...

Glutathione is the most abundant low molecular weight thiol in the eukaryotic cytosol. The compartment-specific ratio and absolute concentrations of reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH and GSSG, respectively) are, however, not easily determined. Here, we present a glutathione-specific green fluorescent protein-based redox probe termed redox sensitive YFP (rxYFP). Using yeast with genetically ...

The human branched-chain aminotransferase (hBCAT) isoenzymes are CXXC motif redox sensitive homodimers central to glutamate metabolism in the central nervous system. These proteins respond differently to oxidation by H(2)O(2), NO, and S-glutathionylation, suggesting that the redox potential is distinct between isoenzymes. Using various reduced to oxidized glutathione ratios (GSH:GSSG) to alter ...

Escherichia coli bacteria sensed the redox state in their surroundings and they swam to a niche that had a preferred reduction potential. In a spatial redox gradient of benzoquinone/benzoquinol, E. coli cells migrated to form a sharply defined band. Bacteria swimming out of either face of the band tumbled and returned to the preferred conditions at the site of the band. This behavioral response...

Changes in intracellular redox couples and redox reactive molecules have been implicated in the regulation of a variety of cellular processes, including cell proliferation and growth arrest by contact inhibition. However, the magnitude, direction, and temporal relationship of redox changes to cellular responses are incompletely defined. The present work sought to characterize redox and metaboli...

Both active and passive smoking are regarded as risk factors for various diseases. To clarify the effects of active and passive smoking on plasma vitamin C levels and lipid peroxidation status, we examined the plasma levels of ascorbic acid (AA), its redox status [ratio of dehydroascorbate (DHAA) to total AA], the levels of thiobarbiturate reactive substance (TBARS), and the levels of lipid per...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant status of plasma vitamin E and plasma and intracellular coenzyme Q10 in children with type 1 diabetes. METHOD This case-control study was conducted on 72 children with type 1 diabetes and compared to 48 healthy children, who were age, sex, and ethnicity-matched. The diabetic children were divided according to their glycosylat...