Corrigendum to "European contribution to the study of ROS:A summary of the findings and prospects for the future from the COST action BM1203 (EU-ROS)" [Redox Biol. 13 (2017) 94-162]

The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) provides an ideal framework to establish multi-disciplinary research networks. COST Action BM1203 (EU-ROS) represents a consortium of researchers from different disciplines who are dedicated to providing new insights and tools for better understanding redox biology and medicine and, in the long run, to finding new therapeutic strategies to target dysregulated redox processes in various diseases. This report highlights the major achievements of EU-ROS as well as research updates and new perspectives arising from its members. The EU-ROS consortium comprised more than 140 active members who worked together for four years on the topics briefly described below. The formation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) is an established hallmark of our aerobic environment and metabolism but RONS also act as messengers via redox regulation of essential cellular processes. The fact that many diseases have been found to be associated with oxidative stress established the theory of oxidative stress as a trigger of diseases that can be corrected by antioxidant therapy. However, while experimental studies support this thesis, clinical studies still generate controversial results, due to complex pathophysiology of oxidative stress in humans. For future improvement of antioxidant therapy and better understanding of redox-associated disease progression detailed knowledge on the sources and targets of RONS formation and discrimination of their detrimental or beneficial roles is required. In order to advance this important area of biology and medicine, highly synergistic approaches combining a variety of diverse and contrasting disciplines are needed

Potential biological role of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) in male gametes

Maintaining the integrity of sperm DNA is vital to reproduction and male fertility. Sperm contain a number of molecules and pathways for the repair of base excision, base mismatches and DNA strand breaks. The presence of Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), a DNA repair enzyme, and its homologues has recently been shown in male germ cells, specifically during stage VII of spermatogenesis. High PARP expression has been reported in mature spermatozoa and in proven fertile men. Whenever there are strand breaks in sperm DNA due to oxidative stress, chromatin remodeling or cell death, PARP is activated. However, the cleavage of PARP by caspase-3 inactivates it and inhibits PARP's DNA-repairing abilities. Therefore, cleaved PARP (cPARP) may be considered a marker of apoptosis. The presence of higher levels of cPARP in sperm of infertile men adds a new proof for the correlation between apoptosis and male infertility. This review describes the possible biological significance of PARP in mammalian cells with the focus on male reproduction. The review elaborates on the role played by PARP during spermatogenesis, sperm maturation in ejaculated spermatozoa and the potential role of PARP as new marker of sperm damage. PARP could provide new strategies to preserve fertility in cancer patients subjected to genotoxic stresses and may be a key to better male reproductive health

Simultaneous production of tert-Amyl ethyl ether and tert-Amyl alcohol from isoamylene-ethanol-water mixtures in a batch-reactive distillation column

tert-Amyl ethyl ether (TAEE) and tert-amyl alcohol (TAA), which are the attractive alternatives to methyl tert-butyl ether as octane-enhancing gasoline-blending components, are produced by the simultaneous etherification and hydration of 2-methyl-2-butene (2M2B) in a batch-reactive distillation column. It was shown that, by changing the reboiler temperature in the range of 90-124 degrees C, significant increases of the overall fractional conversion of 2M2B, reaching values of 0.99, were achieved in this system. In the presence of water, the formation of TAA was also found to take place by the reactions of 2M2B and TAEE with water. Higher selectivities were observed for TAA than for TAEE, in the presence of water. This is due to the higher adsorption equilibrium constant of water than of ethanol on an Amberlyst-15 resin catalyst. A significant increase in the fractional conversion of 2M2B to TAEE was observed in the absence of water

Systems pharmacology using mass spectrometry identifies critical response nodes in prostate cancer

Author summary Metastatic prostate cancer is often treated with pharmacological agents to prevent the tumor from expanding; however, despite advances in drug development patients often die of the disease. An international research team lead by Ruedi Aebersold (ETH Zürich, Switzerland) and Chris Sander (Dana Faber Cancer Institute, Boston, USA) asked how prostate cancer cells adapt to pharmacological treatment on the molecular protein level and find a general response in their prostate cancer model. Next, they asked if similar changes are found in prostate cancer patients. Indeed, the same proteins upregulated in prostate cancer models are also upregulated in prostate cancer patients. Immediately, this has implications for patient treatment stratification and opens new avenues for drug developments in metastatic prostate cancer