Applications of Structural Biology and Bioinformatics in the Investigation of Oxidative Stress-Related Processes

Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated dysfunction of certain biological processes is implicated in different diseases in humans, including cardiovascular, cancer, or neurodegenerative disorders. Not only human cells and tissues are affected by ROS but also all other biological systems, including plants and microorganisms. Primary targets of ROS are proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. Modifications of these macromolecules result mostly in the start of signalling cascades between proteins, proteins and DNA, DNA and RNA, proteins and RNA, proteins and lipids within single cell compartments, entire cells, or tissues. In this chapter, basics of tools of structural biology (i.e., X-ray crystallography, NMR, and EPR spectroscopy) as well as bioinformatics are presented. These tools are explained as well as how they can be applied in the analysis of ROS-mediated modifications within macromolecules and systems, and perspectives are discussed