16 research outputs found
Prospects in computational molecular medicine: a millennial mega-project on peptide folding
During the second half of the 20th century, Molecular Computations have
reached to a level that can revolutionize chemistry. The next target
will be structural biology, which will be followed soon by Molecular
Medicine. The present paper outlines where we are at, in this field, at
the end of the 20th century, and in what direction the development may
take in the new millennium. In view of the gigantic nature of the
problem, it is suggested that a suitably designed cooperative
Millennial Mega-project might accelerate our schedule. (C) 2000
Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
Antioxidant properties of MitoTEMPOL and its hydroxylamine
Piperidine nitroxides such as TEMPOL have been widely used as antioxidants in vitro and in vivo. MitoTEMPOL is a mitochondria-targeted derivative of TEMPOL designed to protect mitochondria from the oxidative damage that they accumulate, but once there is rapidly reduced to its hydroxylamine, MitoTEMPOL-H. As little is known about the antioxidant efficacy of hydroxylamines, this study has assessed the antioxidant activity of both MitoTEMPOL and MitoTEMPOL-H. The hydroxylamine was more effective at preventing lipid-peroxidation than MitoTEMPOL and decreased oxidative damage to mitochondrial DNA caused by menadione. In contrast to MitoTEMPOL, MitoTEMPOL-H has no superoxide dismutase activity and its antioxidant actions are likely to be mediated by hydrogen atom donation. Therefore, even though MitoTEMPOL is rapidly reduced to MitoTEMPOL-H in cells, it remains an effective antioxidant. Furthermore, as TEMPOL is also reduced to a hydroxylamine in vivo, many of its antioxidant effects may also be mediated by its hydroxylamine