Breakthrough New Tool for Studying Degenerative Disease
An announcement that didn’t make the major newspaper headlines, but is nevertheless big news. Researchers at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University (OSU) have discovered a new technique that allows them to observe and accurately measure the level of a key oxidant (superoxide) in animal cells.
Prior to this, there was no direct and accurate way to measure superoxide or its origin from the two places that produce it, the cell’s cytosol or mitochondria. Now there is.
With the new system developed at OSU, researchers can use a fluorescent microscope, a fairly standard laboratory tool, to actually see levels of superoxide and observe changes as experiments are performed with living cells.
Oxidation is a process that occurs naturally in the body — for example, in cell energy production and some immune reactions. As a result of the process, unstable atoms and molecules (e.g., free radicals such as superoxide) can be formed.
The body produces substances (e.g., glutathione, superoxide dismutase, catalase) that help to stabilize these atoms and molecules and prevent excessive damage and inflammation. We also take in anti-oxidants through our diet, in the form of different nutrients such as vitamins C and E, that help to neutralize these free radicals.
When these free radicals accumulate, cell structures can be damaged. This damage is believed to play an important role in many degenerative diseases, including ALS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and more.
The discovery of this technique will help researchers better understand what’s really happening in cells, as well as the effects of different potential treatments, and should help to speed research in many diseases. It’s definitely good news.
November 15th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Hi Marc, I just added your feed. Looking forward to it.
~carla
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