Sep 16 : A team of scientists from Boston College has found a means to shed more light on the role of oxidative stress in the development of diseases by studying it at the sub-cellular level.

Oxidative stress is known to trigger many human diseases including atherosclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers say that existing information about the oxidative stress response has come primarily from studies using reactive oxygen species (ROS) with ill-defined locations within the cell, and thus, they do not account for possible differences between stress originating within particular regions of the cell.

Through the use of novel synthetic intracellular targeting molecules that contain oxygen species-generating compounds that cause oxidative stress, the Boston College researchers have targeted specific locations within the cell, particularly the nucleus and mitochondrion, and observed how these molecules interact with nucleic acids (DNA).

According to the researchers, this will make it easier to determine what parts of a cell are most likely to combat the effects of oxidative stress, and which are weaker. This insight, in turn, could someday lead to the development of toxic agents that could be used, for example, to attack cancer at the sub-cellular level.

The investigators say that the research demonstrates the value of interdepartmental and interdisciplinary collaborations, a trend that is becoming a characteristic of Boston College’s natural science programmes.

“This experience is an illustration of what can happen when you have an environment where chemists and biologists continually encounter each other, formally and informally. Conversations start, ideas are exchanged and progress is made rapidly; these historically separate disciplines can get together to share observations and work together,” said Boston College Professor of Biology Thomas Chiles, a study co-author whose lab was involved in the research.

“Past research on oxidative stress focused on the cell as a whole, so it was difficult to ascertain exactly what was happening at the molecular level. But with these compounds developed through Shana’s lab, we can begin to understand the specifics of the cell’s response to oxidative stress,” he added.

Prof. Chiles said their next step would be to look at whether the changes occurring within the cell are its response to the oxidative stress caused by the compounds, or if the compounds themselves are triggering the changes.

The study is published in the current issue of the journal Chemistry & Biology. (ANI)