Natural Antioxidants and Cell Redox Sensitive Signaling: In Memory of Professor Lester Packer (1929–2018)

Dear Colleague,

Starting around the mid-1980s, research in the field of free radicals, reactive oxygen- and nitrogen- species, antioxidants, oxidative stress and redox-regulated pathways and functions in cells and entire organisms in health and disease has generated thousands of studies from basic to clinical science. Lester Packer (1929-2018), one of the most world’s foremost antioxidant research scientists and antiaging experts, was a pioneer and promoter in this field.

Prof. Packer received his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Biochemistry from Yale University and began his academic career at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. In the early 1960s, he moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where became a professor of Physiology-Anatomy and later of Molecular and Cell Biology. Lester Packer was Professor and senior researcher at Berkeley for 40 years, and established a laboratory that has been a coveted destination of researchers from all over the world. No one who has known him can forget his enthusiasm and energy in sharing his knowledge with colleagues and students. It is not easy to remember the long list of his offices, positions and awards. In addition to his membership in many professional research societies, Professor Packer served as President of the International Society of Free Radical Research, President of the Oxygen Club of California, and Vice-President of UNESCO – the United Nations Global Network on Molecular and Cell Biology. He received numerous scientific achievement awards including three honorary doctoral degrees. Professor Packer published over 700 scientific papers spanning a vast range of biological research. His early studies focused on electron transport in enzymes and mitochondria, leading to studies on oxidants, oxidative stress, and the cellular adaptive responses associated with such stresses; he was the author of 80 books on every aspects of antioxidants and health, including the standard references Vitamin E in Health and Disease, Vitamin C in Health and Disease, The Handbook of Natural Antioxidants, Understanding the Process of Aging: The Roles of Mitochondria, Free Radicals, and Antioxidants, Carotenoids and Retinoids: Molecular Aspects and Health Issues, Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Mechanisms in Obesity, Diabetes, and the Metabolic Syndrome. In addition, he was the Editor of the series Oxidative Stress and Disease, served on numerous editorial boards, and is known as the organizer of dozens of international meetings with a focus on redox biology. His contribution to the diffusion of the importance of free radicals and antioxidants in health and disease may be considered unique.

As a final note, it is no less important to acknowledge that, notwithstanding his brilliant career as a researcher, the significance of Lester Packer in the field of the redox-biology goes far beyond the number of papers and book chapters he published. He was a real leader in the field, able to generate energy for research and to attract the interest of different people both in academia and industry, involved in human health and disease research, application, and policy. His intuition in the importance of oxidative stress, antioxidants, and redox-regulation of the cell life may be expressed with the words he said over 20 years ago “As we move into the new millennium, the Antioxidant Miracle makes it possible for each of us to have greater control over our health, and ultimately our destiny, than we ever had before. We now have the power to prevent and perhaps even eradicate many of the degenerative diseases that were once considered an inevitable part of aging" - Prof Lester Packer, 1999.

Luisa Tesoriere and Maria A. Livrea have had the pleasure and the honor of knowing and working with Lester Packer. With the full support of the Editor-in-Chief of Molecules, they want to dedicate to the memory of Lester Packer this Special Issue, “Natural Antioxidants and Cell Redox Sensitive Signaling.” This Special Issue is dedicated to all aspects of the antioxidant role of natural products, including their ability to modulate the activation of redox-sensitive transcription factors or orchestrate the expression of antioxidant and cyto-protective genes. Basic studies on mechanistic aspects in normal, as well as transformed cells, applications in animal models of pathologies and potential for human well-being are considered.

It is a pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript to this Special Issue. Regular articles, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Prof. Dr. Maria Antonia Livrea
Prof. Dr. Luisa Tesoriere
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Antioxidants
• Redox signalling
• Lipid oxidation
• Antioxidants in health and disease
• Redox- sensitive transcription factors
• Antioxidant and cytoprotective genes
• Plant derived antioxidants and human health