Oxidation as an important factor of protein damage: Implications for Maillard reaction.

Protein oxidation, the process caused especially by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, is thought to play a major role in various oxidative processes within cells and is implicated in the development of many human diseases. This review provides a brief overview of the protein oxidation with the emphasis on the types of oxidation (oxidation of protein backbone and amino acid residues side chains, site-specific metal-catalysed protein oxidation), oxidationdependent generation of protein hydroperoxides, carbonyl derivatives and protein-protein cross-linkages. Nonenzymatic glycoxidation (also known as Maillard reaction) as an important factor of protein damage, consequences of oxidative protein impairment and related diseases as well as means of monitoring and assessment of protein modifications are discussed.

Low background shielding of HPGe detector.

National Radiation Protection Institute in Prague is equipped with 14 HPGe detectors with relative efficiency up to 150%. Steel shielding with one of these detectors (relative efficiency 100%) was chosen to be rebuilt to decrease minimum detectable activity (MDA). Additional lead and copper shielding was built up inside the original steel shielding to reduce the volume of the inner space and filled with nitrogen by means of evaporating liquid nitrogen. MDA values decreased for Compton background up to 0.67 of original value.

Elimination voltammetry of adenine and cytosine mixtures.

The elimination voltammetry with linear scan (EVLS) was used to study adenine and cytosine reduction signals at the mercury electrode. In comparison with the linear scan voltammetry (which provides only one unresolved peak), two elimination functions provide good resolution of individual peaks and significant increase of sensitivity. The first elimination function eliminates the kinetic current (I(k)) and conserves the diffusion current (I(d)). The second elimination function eliminates kinetic and charging currents (I(k) and I(c)) simultaneously and conserves the diffusion current (I(d)). Both functions give two well-resolved peaks of adenine and cytosine in a wide concentration range, while the linear sweep voltammetry gives badly resolved peaks due to hydrogen evolution. The best resolution of peaks is observed in acetate buffer at pH 3.8 and the detection limit for both substances is 500 nM. The concentration dependence of EVLS peak heights for one substance at the constant concentration of the other substance is linear. The peak potentials differ in these elimination functions. The difference in EVLS peak potentials gives the possibility to evaluate alpha n(a). Elimination voltammetry with linear scan contributes to the resolution of cathodic signals of purine and pyrimidine bases at very negative potentials near supporting electrolyte discharge.

Cyclic voltammetry of DNA at a mercury electrode: an anodic peak specific for guanine.

Synthetic homopolyribonucleotides poly(A), poly(U), poly(C), and poly(G), poly(A, G, U), apurinic acid and native and denatured DNA from calf thymus were analyzed by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) using a hanging mercury drop electrode. It was shown that guanine containing polynucleotides, i.e. poly(G), poly(A, G, U) and DNA yield an anodic peak of guanine in the vicinity of a potential of -0.3 V (against a saturated calomel electrode). The guanine peak appeared only at a sufficiently negative switching potential (about -2 V). The appearance of the guanine peak was conditioned by a reduction of guanine residues in the region of the switching potential and reoxidation of the reduction product in the vicinity of -0.3 V. Native and thermally denatured DNAs were investigated under the conditions of both complete and incomplete coverage of the electrode in various background electrolytes. Both DNA forms yielded anodic CV peaks of guanine with the peak of denatured DNA being always higher than that of native DNA. Irradiation of native DNA with relatively small doses of gamma radiation (5-120 Gy) resulted in an increase of the anodic peak. A comparison of changes induced by gamma radiation in the anodic (guanine) and cathodic (reduction of adenine and cytosine) peaks showed a steeper increase of the cathodic peak as compared to that of the anodic one. It has been concluded that in the given dose range the DNA double-helical structure is mainly damaged in the adenine-thymine rich regions.