Introduction to Reactive Oxygen Species—Section 18.1

Activated oxygen species are produced during a number of physiological and pathological processes. Their effects are exerted through reactions with a large variety of easily oxidizable cellular components, including NADH, NADPH, ascorbic acid, histidine, tryptophan, tyrosine, cysteine, glutathione, proteins and nucleic acids. Reactive oxygen species can also oxidize cholesterol and unsaturated fatty acids, causing membrane lipid peroxidation. Several reviews discuss the chemistry of the different reactive oxygen species and their detection.

Molecular Probes products include probes that either generate or detect various reactive oxygen species (Reactive oxygen species—Table 18.1), including singlet oxygen (¹O₂), superoxide anion (•O₂^–), hydroxyl radical (HO•) and various peroxides (ROOR') and hydroperoxides (ROOH). Generating and Detecting Reactive Oxygen Species—Section 18.2 describes these probes and their applications in vitro and in vivo.

The importance of the nitric oxide radical (abbreviated NO) and other reactive oxygen species as biological messengers is the focus of intense research. Probes for Nitric Oxide Research—Section 18.3 is devoted to our probes for promoting, inhibiting or detecting nitric oxide production in a variety of experimental systems.