Reactive Oxygen Species: From Radiation to Molecular Biology [antikvár]

Reactive Oxygen Species: From Radiation to Molecular Biology Editor's Remarks CHUANG CHIN CHIUEH" Unit on Neurodegeneration & Neuroprotection, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1264, USA This special issue is based on the Festschrift held on July 2, 1998 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) honoring Dr. Daniel L. Gilbert who has dedicated a half century of his professional career in fostering free radical research (see the first chapter). The idea of organizing this Festschrift originated from a conversation with Professor Carol Colton (Georgetown University) and Dr. Liana Harvath (Food and Drug Administration) on October 2, 1997. This motion was immediately endorsed and supported by the Oxygen Club, the NIH Reactive Oxygen Species Interest Group, and the NIH Special Events Office, Ms. Hilda Madine. We also took this occasion to celebrate the birthdays of Dr. Gilbert and Dr. James Mitchell, two NIH scientists with an avid interest in Free Radical Research. For this Festschrift, Dr. Gilbert invited his colleagues to present their research findings on reactive oxygen species and to discuss the following areas where oxyrad-icals play significant roles: radiation, molecular biology, biochemistry, aging (nervous system and cardiovascular system), cancer, and nutrition. It was Dr. Gilbert's idea to further the celebration by the publication of symposium talks and enlist further contributions from other scientists. We sincerely appreciate the enthusiastic support of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences for providing not only the excellent editorial assistance by Ms. Joyce Hitchcock but also the whole volume of 899 as an early issue of the year 2000. Some of the book chapters are devoted to pertinent and timely ideas about free radicals, and are not limited to reactive oxygen species only but also included reactive nitrogen species, reactive lipid species, reactive thiyl species, and reactive carbon species. Dr. Gilbert believed that free radicals exist in our body and could have important implications in pathogenesis and in the treatments of diseases (Chiueh, C.C., C. Colton & D.L. Gilbert. 1994. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 738: 1-471). For example, nitric oxide is one of the pollutants generated by cars but this radical is also generated in endothelial cells of our body as the endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF, Furchgott, R.F., M.T. Khan & D. Jothianandan. 1987. Federation Proceedings 46(3): 385; Ignarro, L.J. et al. 1987. Federation Proceedings 46(3): 644; Palmer, R.M.J., A.G. Ferrige & S. Moncada. 1987. Nature 327: 524-526). Recognition of the importance of free radicals in biology and medicine has been enhanced by the awarding of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine to Professors Robert F. Furchgott, "e-mail: [email protected] ix