Therapeutic inhibition of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species with mito-TEMPO reduces diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Objective
High levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are intricately linked to obesity and associated pathologies, notably insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. However, ROS are also thought to be important in intracellular signaling, which may paradoxically be required for insulin sensitivity. Many theories have been developed to explain this apparent paradox, which have broadened our understanding of these important small molecules. While many sites for intracellular ROS production have been described, mitochondrial generated ROS remain a major contributor in most cell types. Mitochondrial ROS generation is controlled by a number of factors described in this review. Moreover, these studies have established both a demand for novel sensitive approaches to measure ROS, as well as a need to standardize and review their suitability for different applications.

Methods
To properly assess levels of ROS and mitochondrial ROS in the development of obesity and its complications, a growing number of tools have been developed. This paper reviews many of the common methods for the investigation of ROS in mitochondria, cell, animal, and human models.

Results
Available approaches can be generally divided into those that measure ROS-induced damage (e.g., DNA, lipid, and protein damage); those that measure antioxidant levels and redox ratios; and those that use novel biosensors and probes for a more direct measure of different forms of ROS (e.g., 2′,7′-di-chlorofluorescein (DCF), dihydroethidium (DHE) and its mitochondrial targeted form (MitoSOX), Amplex Red, roGFP, HyPer, mt-cpYFP, ratiometric H2O2 probes, and their derivatives). Moreover, this review provides caveats and strengths for the use of these techniques in different models.

Conclusions
Advances in these techniques will undoubtedly advance the understanding of ROS in obesity and may help resolve unanswered questions in the field.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/oby.21654

Reactive Oxygen Species and Oxidative Stress in Obesity-Recent Findings and Empirical Approaches.

Caenorhabditis elegans is an exceptionally valuable model for aging research because of many advantages, including its genetic tractability, short lifespan, and clear age-dependent physiological changes. Aged C. elegans display a decline in their anatomical and functional features, including tissue integrity, motility, learning and memory, and immunity. Caenorhabditis elegans also exhibit many age-associated changes in the expression of microRNAs and stress-responsive genes and in RNA and protein quality control systems. Many of these age-associated changes provide information on the health of the animals and serve as valuable biomarkers for aging research. Here, we review the age-dependent changes in C. elegans and their utility as aging biomarkers indicative of the physiological status of aging.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/acel.12853

Age-dependent changes and biomarkers of aging in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Fifteen years ago, in 2001, the concept of “Reactive Sulfur Species” or RSS was advocated as a working hypothesis. Since then various organic as well as inorganic RSS have attracted considerable interest and stimulated many new and often unexpected avenues in research and product development. During this time, it has become apparent that molecules with sulfur-containing functional groups are not just the passive “victims” of oxidative stress or simple conveyors of signals in cells, but can also be stressors in their own right, with pivotal roles in cellular function and homeostasis. Many “exotic” sulfur-based compounds, often of natural origin, have entered the fray in the context of nutrition, ageing, chemoprevention and therapy. In parallel, the field of inorganic RSS has come to the forefront of research, with short-lived yet metabolically important intermediates, such as various sulfur-nitrogen species and polysulfides (Sx2−), playing important roles. Between 2003 and 2005 several breath-taking discoveries emerged characterising unusual sulfur redox states in biology, and since then the truly unique role of sulfur-dependent redox systems has become apparent. Following these discoveries, over the last decade a “hunt” and, more recently, mining for such modifications has begun—and still continues—often in conjunction with new, innovative and complex labelling and analytical methods to capture the (entire) sulfur “redoxome”. A key distinction for RSS is that, unlike oxygen or nitrogen, sulfur not only forms a plethora of specific reactive species, but sulfur also targets itself, as sulfur containing molecules, i.e., peptides, proteins and enzymes, preferentially react with RSS. Not surprisingly, today this sulfur-centred redox signalling and control inside the living cell is a burning issue, which has moved on from the predominantly thiol/disulfide biochemistry of the past to a complex labyrinth of interacting signalling and control pathways which involve various sulfur oxidation states, sulfur species and reactions. RSS are omnipresent and, in some instances, are even considered as the true bearers of redox control, perhaps being more important than the Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) or Reactive Nitrogen Species (RNS) which for decades have dominated the redox field. In other(s) words, in 2017, sulfur redox is “on the rise”, and the idea of RSS resonates throughout the Life Sciences. Still, the RSS story isn’t over yet. Many RSS are at the heart of “mistaken identities” which urgently require clarification and may even provide the foundations for further scientific revolutions in the years to come. In light of these developments, it is therefore the perfect time to revisit the original hypotheses, to select highlights in the field and to question and eventually update our concept of “Reactive Sulfur Species”.

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/6/2/38/pdf

The Reactive Sulfur Species Concept: 15 Years On

New tools for redox biology: From imaging to manipulation.

Replying to M. Schwarzlander et al. , 10.1038/nature13858 (2014)
 In the accompanying Comment1, Schwarzlander challenged our recent study2 because they failed to reproduce our previous finding that the fluorescence intensity of purified circularly permuted yellow fluorescent protein (cpYFP) increases in response to oxygen and superoxide anions produced by xanthine (X) plus xanthine oxidase (XO)3. Starting from a ‘fully reduced’ state (incubation with 10 mM dithiothreitol for >3 h) and in the presence of 75 mM HEPES, we demonstrated that cpYFP exhibits a twofold fluorescence increase after oxygenation, and an additional twofold increase after the subsequent addition of X plus XO, which could not be accounted for by solvent (potassium hydroxide)-induced alkalization. Furthermore, the xanthine plus xanthine oxidase-induced increase in cpYFP fluorescence was reversed by Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (600 U ml−1). We also found that the fluorescence intensity of fully reduced cpYFP increased >fourfold after incubation with 1 mM aldrithiol. Notably, recombinant cpYFP purified in the absence of dithiothreitol treatment exhibits a high fluorescence comparable to that of the fully oxidized state, indicating the high susceptibility of cpYFP to oxidation in non-reducing environments3. Therefore, ensuring a fully reduced state of cpYFP is essential for the probe to sense superoxide in vitro. This property is probably the reason that the probe functions readily as a reversible superoxide biosensor when targeted to the reduced environment of the mitochondrial matrix. Unfortunately, from the brief description of the methods and limited data provided by Schwarzlander et al.1, it is not possible to determine whether cpYFP was fully reduced in their experiments, or whether sufficient precautions were taken to prevent oxidation of the probe. Moreover, in our experiments cpYFP was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)LysS cells, whereas Schwarzlander et al.1 used E. coli Origami, a trxB (thioredoxin reductase) mutant strain that also lacks glutathione reductase needed to fully limit cysteine oxidation4, which could result in an increased oxidative status of their purified cpYFP rendering it non-responsive to superoxide.

Meng Qiu Dong

Papers

Cheng et al. reply