Biology of Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species: Redox Signaling, Metabolic Effects, Cellular Functions and Oxidative Damage

Dear Colleagues,

For a long time, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) were considered as deleterious chemically-active molecules causing oxidative damage to nearly all types of biomolecules. More recently, RONS have been discovered as regulators of diverse intracellular processes, such as redox signalling, metabolic processes, and cellular functions. Thus, the biological impact of RONS is a sum of diverse and possibly even opposite effects, which can modulate physiological processes and also contribute to the development of a disease.

Consideration of possible mechanism switching between beneficial and deleterious effects of RONS led to a rather common assumption, that low levels of ROS activate signalling pathways while oxidative stress denotes high levels of ROS. However, numerous reports on the chemistry of RONS show, that molecules jointly named RONS indeed have quite different chemical properties and consequently must have different biological effects. Some of these species are more suitable for physiological reactions, while the others exert predominantly damaging capacity. Thus, the identification of specific RONS occurring in biological systems is as important as the determination of total amount of RONS formed.

This Special Issue will focus on two aspects of RONS biology indicated above. The first one, which considers the links between RONS and diverse cellular/organ functions as well as impact of RONS on clinical outcomes. The second aspect is related to the identification of specific type of RONS involved in the regulation of diverse cellular/organ functions, particular those relevant for development of diseases. Papers addressing both aspects simultaneously will be greatly favored.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Andrey V. Kozlov
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sergey Dikalov
Guest Editors

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