Reactive oxygen species-induced molecular damage and its application in pathology

Recent studies have clarified that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in a diversity of biological phenomena including radiation damage, carcinogenesis, ischemia-reperfusion injury, diabetes mellitus and neurodegenerative diseases. The breakthrough of these fruitful accomplishments was the discovery of an enzyme, superoxide dismutase, by McCord and Fridovich in 1968. In the 1970s and 80s, biochemists and radiation biologists were attracted by the role of ROS in its irreversible damage to biological molecules. In the 1990s, ROS were further found to be a reversible modulator of protein structure as well, and this led to a recent rapid data accumulation on the association of ROS and transcription factors. At the same time, methods to localize ROS-induced damage in paraffin-embedded tissues have been established. This owes to a successful production of antibodies against covalently modified structures specific for ROS-induced damage. The epitopes include 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal-modified proteins. The present article reviews histochemical and immunohistochemical methods to localize ROS-induced damage in tissues and cells, further comments on the association of ROS with transcription factors, and shows a prospective view of ROS-induced carcinogenesis.