Since biological tissues are unstable in an oxygen atmosphere, a great deal of effort is expended by organisms to metabolically limit or repair oxidative tissue damage. This volume of Methods in Enzymology and its companion Volume 233 present methods developed to investigate the roles of oxygen radicals and antioxidants in disease. It includes techniques and assays of the activity of biothiols in soluble systems, their interaction with lipids and proteins, and the various new thiol enzymes, such as thioltransferases, being elucidated. Antioxidant reactions and gene regulation are also included.

Author Biography

Helmut Sies, MD, PhD (hon), studied medicine at the universities of Tubingen, Munich, and Paris. He was the professor and chair of the Institute for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I at Heinrich-Heine-University Dusseldorf, Germany, where he is now professor emeritus. He is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and was the president of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He was named 'Redox Pioneer'; was the president of the Society for Free Radical Research International (SFRRI). Helmut Sies introduced the concept of "Oxidative Stress" in 1985, and was the first to reveal hydrogen peroxide as a normal constituent of aerobic cell metabolism. His research interests comprise redox biology, oxidants, antioxidants, micronutrients.