Tag Archives: oxidants

‘Dark Oxidants’ Form Away from Sunlight in Lake and Ocean Depths, Underground Soils

By Guest PostMay 19, 2013Environmentamounts of superoxide, antioxidants, away from sunlight, bacteria, beneath the seafloor, bettina voelker, blueberries, breathing oxygen, cancer, cells, chantal mendes, chemistry of oceans, colleen hansel, dark chocolate, dark environments, dark oxidants, dark places, death in microorganisms, deborah bronk, environmental oxidants, harvard university, hazardous, Health, hole, humans, julia diaz, lake, national science foundation, neurotoxin mercury, nsf, ocean depths, oceanographic institution, oxidants, peter andeer, premature aging, san francisco, source of superoxide, tong zhang, toxic chemicals, underground soils, woods

New findings overturn understanding of light-dependent environmental oxidants

Breathing oxygen… can be hazardous to your health?

Indeed, our bodies aren’t perfect. They make mistakes, among them producing toxic chemicals, called oxidants, in cells. We fight these oxidants naturally, and by eating foods rich in antioxidants such as blueberries and dark chocolate.

All forms of life that breathe oxygen—even ones that can’t be seen with the naked eye, such as bacteria—must fight oxidants to live. (more…)

It Takes Two to Tango: Pairs of Entwined Proteins Handle The Stress

By Guest PostMarch 2, 2012Sciencebacterial protein, bleach, cell paper, dana reichmann, dance floor, function, helper protein, hsp33, jim erickson, michael fitzgerald, molecular chaperone, oxidants, protein, protein folding process, stress specific, tango, university of michigan, ursula jakob, ying xu

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Imagine two tango dancers sweeping across the dance floor and suddenly encountering a slick spot. To avoid a slip or even a nasty tumble, the pair must work together to support one another and glide safely through the stressful moment.

In a similar way, a certain type of helper protein called a stress-specific molecular chaperone prevents its client proteins from collapsing during stressful situations by uncoiling a long, supportive arm that wraps around them, a University of Michigan-led research team has shown. (more…)