Free radical studies of components of the extracellular matrix: contributions to protection of biomolecules and biomaterials from sterilising doses of ionising radiation.

The purpose of the current review is show how the principles and techniques of radiation chemistry have enabled the direct reactions of free radicals with biomolecules and biomaterials to be investigated at the molecular level. In particular, the review focusses on the free radical-induced fragmentation of glycosaminoglycans. Glycosaminoglycans are large linear polysaccharides consisting of repeating disaccharide units and are important components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) either in free form (hyaluronan) or as a component of proteoglycans.

Antioxidants in Food: The Significance of Characterisation, Identification, Chemical and Biological Assays in Determining the Role of Antioxidants in Food.

There is a vast research literature on the antioxidant activity in food. [..

The mechanisms and physiological relevance of glycocalyx degradation in hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Significance: Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is an inevitable side effect of major liver surgery that can culminate in liver failure. The bulk of I/R-induced liver injury results from an overproduction of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS), which inflict both parenchymal and microcirculatory damage. A structure that is particularly prone to oxidative attack and modification is the glycocalyx (GCX), a meshwork of proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) that covers the lumenal endothelial surface and safeguards microvascular homeostasis.

Efficiencies of fragmentation of glycosaminoglycan chloramides of the extracellular matrix by oxidizing and reducing radicals: potential site-specific targets in inflammation?

Hypochlorous acid and its conjugate base, hypochlorite ions, produced under inflammatory conditions, may produce chloramides of glycosaminoglycans, these being significant components of the extracellular matrix (ECM). This may occur through the binding of myeloperoxidase directly to the glycosaminoglycans. The N-Cl group in the chloramides is a potential selective target for both reducing and oxidizing radicals, leading possibly to more efficient and damaging fragmentation of these biopolymers relative to the parent glycosaminoglycans.

Chlorination and oxidation of heparin and hyaluronan by hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite anions: effect of sulfate groups on reaction pathways and kinetics.

Hypochlorous acid (HOCl), produced in inflammatory conditions by the enzyme myeloperoxidase, and its anion hypochlorite (OCl(-)) exist in vivo at almost equal concentrations. Their reactions with hyaluronan and heparin (as a model for sulfated glycosaminoglycans in the extracellular matrix) have been studied as a function of pH. The major product in these reactions is the chloramide derivative of the glycosaminoglycans.

InSAR observations of low slip rates on the major faults of western Tibet.

Two contrasting views of the active deformation of Asia dominate the debate about how continents deform: (i) The deformation is primarily localized on major faults separating crustal blocks or (ii) deformation is distributed throughout the continental lithosphere. In the first model, western Tibet is being extruded eastward between the major faults bounding the region. Surface displacement measurements across the western Tibetan plateau using satellite radar interferometry (InSAR) indicate that slip rates on the Karakoram and Altyn Tagh faults are lower than would be expected for the extrusion model and suggest a significant amount of internal deformation in Tibet.