Christine C. Winterbourn

Bio: Christine C. Winterbourn is an academic researcher from Christchurch Hospital. The author has contributed to research in topics: Hypochlorous acid & Myeloperoxidase. The author has an hindex of 22, co-authored 26 publications receiving 3999 citations.

Thiocyanate and chloride as competing substrates for myeloperoxidase.

Abstract: The neutrophil enzyme myeloperoxidase uses H2O2 to oxidize chloride, bromide, iodide and thiocyanate to their respective hypohalous acids. Chloride is considered to be the physiological substrate. However, a detailed kinetic study of its substrate preference has not been undertaken. Our aim was to establish whether myeloperoxidase oxidizes thiocyanate in the presence of chloride at physiological concentrations of these substrates. We determined this by measuring the rate of H2O2 loss in reactions catalysed by the enzyme at various concentrations of each substrate. The relative specificity constants for chloride, bromide and thiocyanate were 1:60:730 respectively, indicating that thiocyanate is by far the most favoured substrate for myeloperoxidase. In the presence of 100 mM chloride, myeloperoxidase catalysed the production of hypothiocyanite at concentrations of thiocyanate as low as 25 microM. With 100 microM thiocyanate, about 50% of the H2O2 present was converted into hypothiocyanite, and the rate of hypohalous acid production equalled the sum of the individual rates obtained when each of these anions was present alone. The rate of H2O2 loss catalysed by myeloperoxidase in the presence of 100 mM chloride doubled when 100 microM thiocyanate was added, and was maximal with 1mM thiocyanate. This indicates that at plasma concentrations of thiocyanate and chloride, myeloperoxidase is far from saturated. We conclude that thiocyanate is a major physiological substrate of myeloperoxidase, regardless of where the enzyme acts. As a consequence, more consideration should be given to the oxidation products of thiocyanate and to the role they play in host defence and inflammation.

Mechanism of inactivation of myeloperoxidase by 4-aminobenzoic acid hydrazide

Abstract: Hypochlorous acid is the most powerful oxidant generated by neutrophils and is likely to contribute to the damage mediated by these inflammatory cells. The haem enzyme myeloperoxidase catalyses its production from hydrogen peroxide and chloride. 4-Aminobenzoic acid hydrazide (ABAH) is a potent inhibitor of hypochlorous acid production. In this investigation we show that, in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, ABAH irreversibly inactivates myeloperoxidase. ABAH was oxidized by myeloperoxidase, and kinetic analysis of the inactivation conformed to that for a mechanism-based inhibitor. Inactivation was exacerbated by concentrations of hydrogen peroxide greater than 50 microM and by the absence of oxygen. Hydrogen peroxide alone caused minimal inactivation. Reduced glutathione inhibited the oxidation of ABAH as well as the irreversible inhibition of myeloperoxidase. In the presence of oxygen, ABAH and hydrogen peroxide initially converted myeloperoxidase into compound III, which subsequently lost haem absorbance. In the absence of oxygen, the enzyme was converted into ferrous myeloperoxidase and its haem groups were rapidly destroyed. We propose that myeloperoxidase oxidizes ABAH to a radical that reduces the enzyme to its ferrous intermediate. Ferrous myeloperoxidase reacts either with oxygen to allow enzyme turnover, or with hydrogen peroxide to give irreversible inactivation.

Nitric Oxide and Peroxynitrite in Health and Disease

Abstract: The discovery that mammalian cells have the ability to synthesize the free radical nitric oxide (NO) has stimulated an extraordinary impetus for scientific research in all the fields of biology and medicine. Since its early description as an endothelial-derived relaxing factor, NO has emerged as a fundamental signaling device regulating virtually every critical cellular function, as well as a potent mediator of cellular damage in a wide range of conditions. Recent evidence indicates that most of the cytotoxicity attributed to NO is rather due to peroxynitrite, produced from the diffusion-controlled reaction between NO and another free radical, the superoxide anion. Peroxynitrite interacts with lipids, DNA, and proteins via direct oxidative reactions or via indirect, radical-mediated mechanisms. These reactions trigger cellular responses ranging from subtle modulations of cell signaling to overwhelming oxidative injury, committing cells to necrosis or apoptosis. In vivo, peroxynitrite generation represents a crucial pathogenic mechanism in conditions such as stroke, myocardial infarction, chronic heart failure, diabetes, circulatory shock, chronic inflammatory diseases, cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders. Hence, novel pharmacological strategies aimed at removing peroxynitrite might represent powerful therapeutic tools in the future. Evidence supporting these novel roles of NO and peroxynitrite is presented in detail in this review.

The Halogen Bond

Abstract: The halogen bond occurs when there is evidence of a net attractive interaction between an electrophilic region associated with a halogen atom in a molecular entity and a nucleophilic region in another, or the same, molecular entity. In this fairly extensive review, after a brief history of the interaction, we will provide the reader with a snapshot of where the research on the halogen bond is now, and, perhaps, where it is going. The specific advantages brought up by a design based on the use of the halogen bond will be demonstrated in quite different fields spanning from material sciences to biomolecular recognition and drug design.

Role of Oxidative Modifications in Atherosclerosis

Abstract: This review focuses on the role of oxidative processes in atherosclerosis and its resultant cardiovascular events. There is now a consensus that atherosclerosis represents a state of heightened oxidative stress characterized by lipid and protein oxidation in the vascular wall. The oxidative modification hypothesis of atherosclerosis predicts that low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation is an early event in atherosclerosis and that oxidized LDL contributes to atherogenesis. In support of this hypothesis, oxidized LDL can support foam cell formation in vitro, the lipid in human lesions is substantially oxidized, there is evidence for the presence of oxidized LDL in vivo, oxidized LDL has a number of potentially proatherogenic activities, and several structurally unrelated antioxidants inhibit atherosclerosis in animals. An emerging consensus also underscores the importance in vascular disease of oxidative events in addition to LDL oxidation. These include the production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species by vascular cells, as well as oxidative modifications contributing to important clinical manifestations of coronary artery disease such as endothelial dysfunction and plaque disruption. Despite these abundant data however, fundamental problems remain with implicating oxidative modification as a (requisite) pathophysiologically important cause for atherosclerosis. These include the poor performance of antioxidant strategies in limiting either atherosclerosis or cardiovascular events from atherosclerosis, and observations in animals that suggest dissociation between atherosclerosis and lipoprotein oxidation. Indeed, it remains to be established that oxidative events are a cause rather than an injurious response to atherogenesis. In this context, inflammation needs to be considered as a primary process of atherosclerosis, and oxidative stress as a secondary event. To address this issue, we have proposed an "oxidative response to inflammation" model as a means of reconciling the response-to-injury and oxidative modification hypotheses of atherosclerosis.

Measuring reactive species and oxidative damage in vivo and in cell culture: how should you do it and what do the results mean?

Abstract: Free radicals and other reactive species (RS) are thought to play an important role in many human diseases. Establishing their precise role requires the ability to measure them and the oxidative damage that they cause. This article first reviews what is meant by the terms free radical, RS, antioxidant, oxidative damage and oxidative stress. It then critically examines methods used to trap RS, including spin trapping and aromatic hydroxylation, with a particular emphasis on those methods applicable to human studies. Methods used to measure oxidative damage to DNA, lipids and proteins and methods used to detect RS in cell culture, especially the various fluorescent ‘probes' of RS, are also critically reviewed. The emphasis throughout is on the caution that is needed in applying these methods in view of possible errors and artifacts in interpreting the results. Keywords: Cell culture, free radical, reactive species, antioxidant, oxidative stress, oxidative damage, fluorescent probe, lipid peroxidation, superoxide Introduction Free radicals and other ‘reactive oxygen (ROS)/nitrogen/chlorine species' (for an explanation of these terms see Table 1) are widely believed to contribute to the development of several age-related diseases, and perhaps, even to the aging process itself (Halliwell & Gutteridge, 1999; Sohal et al., 2002) by causing ‘oxidative stress' and ‘oxidative damage' (terms explained in Table 2). For example, many studies have shown increased oxidative damage to all the major classes of biomolecules in the brains of Alzheimer's patients (Halliwell, 2001; Butterfield, 2002; Liu et al., 2003). Other diseases in which oxidative damage has been implicated include cancer, atherosclerosis, other neurodegenerative diseases and diabetes (Hagen et al., 1994; Chowienczyk et al., 2000; Halliwell, 2000a, 2001, 2002a, 2002b; Parthasarathy et al., 2000). If oxidative damage contributes significantly to disease pathology (Table 3 lists the criteria needed to establish this), then actions that decrease it should be therapeutically beneficial (Halliwell, 2001; Lee et al., 2002a; Liu et al., 2003). If the oxidative damage is involved in the origin of a disease, then successful antioxidant treatment should delay or prevent the onset of that disease (Halliwell, 1991, 2002a, 2002b; Galli et al., 2002; Steinberg & Witztum, 2002). To establish the role of oxidative damage (Table 3), it is therefore essential to be able to measure it accurately. For example, the failure of interventions with antioxidants such as vitamin E, β-carotene or ascorbate to decrease disease incidence in several human intervention trials may have simply been due to the failure of these compounds to decrease oxidative damage in the subjects tested (Halliwell, 1999a, 2000c; Levine et al., 2001; Meagher et al., 2001). In this review, we will examine the methods available to measure reactive species (RS) and oxidative damage, with a particular emphasis on those applicable to human studies. Table 1 Nomenclature of reactive species Table 2 Some key definitions Table 3 Criteria for implicating RS as a significant mechanism of tissue injury in human disease Measuring RS in vivo: basic principles Some fascinating techniques such as L-band electron spin resonance (ESR) with nitroxyl probes and magnetic resonance imaging spin trapping are under development to measure RS directly in whole animals (e.g. Berliner et al., 2001; Han et al., 2001; Utsumi & Yamada, 2003), but no probes are currently suitable for human use. Most RS persist for only a short time in vivo and cannot be measured directly. There are a few exceptions: examples include H2O2 (discussed below), and perhaps, NO•, in the sense that serum levels of NO2− have been claimed to measure vascular endothelial NO• synthesis (Kelm et al., 1999), despite the fact that NO2− is quickly oxidized to NO3− in vivo (Kelm et al., 1999; Oldreive & Rice-Evans, 2001). Essentially, there are two approaches to detecting transient RS: attempting to trap these species and measure the levels of the trapped molecules and measuring the levels of the damage done by RS, that is, the amount of oxidative damage. Sometimes other approaches are used. They include measurements of erythrocyte antioxidant defences and of total antioxidant activity of body fluids; falls in these parameters are often taken as evidence of oxidative stress. Erythrocytes cannot synthesize proteins, however, and their antioxidant enzyme levels may drop as they ‘age' in the circulation (Denton et al., 1975). Thus changes in their levels are more likely to reflect changes in the rates of red blood cell turnover: if this slows down, the circulating erythrocytes will be older on average and so levels of antioxidant enzymes in them will appear to fall. Vice versa, if an intervention accelerates red cell removal or increases erythropoiesis, levels of antioxidants in red cells will seem to rise. Hence, such data should be interpreted with caution. Depending on the method that is used to measure it, the plasma or serum ‘total antioxidant capacity' (TAC) usually involves major contributions from urate, ascorbate and sometimes albumin −SH groups (Benzie & Strain, 1996; Halliwell & Gutteridge, 1999; Prior & Cao, 1999; Rice-Evans, 2000; Bartosz, 2003), although different methods measure different things (Schlesier et al., 2002; Bartosz, 2003). Thus, for example, if plasma albumin levels fall, TAC will fall. If urate levels rise, TAC will rise. The multiple changes in blood chemistry that occur in sick people mean that TAC changes should be interpreted with caution. TAC is also influenced by diet, often because consumption of certain foods may produce changes in plasma ascorbate and/or urate levels (Halliwell, 2003b).