40 research outputs found
Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases
The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of
aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs)
can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves
excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological
concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can
lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl
radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic
inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the
involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a
large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and
inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation
of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many
similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e.
iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The
studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic
and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and
lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and
longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is
thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As
systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have
multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent
patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of
multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the
decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference
Phylogenetic assessment of culture collection strains of Thiobacillus thioparus, and definitive 16S rRNA gene sequences for T. thioparus, T. denitrificans, and Halothiobacillus neapolitanus
The 16S rRNA gene sequences of 12 strains of Thiobacillus thioparus held by different culture collections have been compared. A definitive sequence for the reference type strain (Starkey; ATCC 8158T) was obtained. The sequences for four examples of the Starkey type strain were essentially identical, confirming their sustained identity after passage through different laboratories. One strain (NCIMB 8454) was reassigned as a strain of Halothiobacillus neapolitanus, and a second (NCIMB 8349) was a species of Thermithiobacillus. These two strains have been renamed in their catalog by the National Collection of Industrial and Marine Bacteria. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of the type strain of Halothiobacillus neapolitanus (NCIMB 8539T) was determined and used to confirm the identity of other culture collection strains of this species. The reference sequences for the type strains of Thiobacillus thioparus and Halothiobacillus neapolitanus have been added to the online List of Prokaryotic Names with Standing in Nomenclature. Comparison of the 16S rRNA gene sequences available for strains of Thiobacillus denitrificans indicated that the sequence for the type strain (NCIMB 9548T) should always be used as the reference sequence for new and existing isolates