Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Rapid Quantification of Oxidized and Reduced Forms of Glutathione Using Ortho -phthalaldehyde in Cultured Mammalian Cells In Vitro
Published on: June 28, 2024
Potentially deadly carcinogenic chromium redox cycle involving peroxochromium(IV) and glutathione
Roberto Marin1, Yachna Ahuja, Rathindra N Bose
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA.
Abstract:
Peroxochromium(IV) complexes are putative DNA-damaging and mutagenic agents in chromium(VI)-mediated carcinogenesis. The reaction between aquaethylenediaminebis(peroxo)chromium(IV) and glutathione at neutral pH exhibits a cyclic redox process displaying a persistent recycling of Cr(IV) and Cr(VI) with the intervention of chromium(V) intermediates. The coordination by a glutathione molecule triggers an autooxidation of the Cr(IV)-peroxo complex to Cr(VI) via an internal electron-transfer process followed by reduction to Cr(IV) via metastable chromium(V) intermediates. The cycle is repeated by the second peroxo species. The Cr(V) and -(IV) intermediates have been characterized as mono- and bisglutathionato complexes with or without a coordinated peroxo moiety. These intermediates are capable of damaging DNA, as evidenced by single strand breaks and DNA oxidation. The implication here is that the potential for a persistent, if not perpetual, deadly chromium carcinogenic cycle exists in the cellular milieu through the assistance of molecular oxygen and glutathione.
Related Concept Videos
Bioactivation and Tissue Toxicity
Oxidation of Phenols to Quinones
o-hydroxy phenols are oxidized to o-quinones and p-hydroxy phenols to p-quinones. Such redox reactions involve the transfer of two electrons and two protons. The reversible redox property is crucial in...
Electron Transport Chain: Complex III and IV
Phase II Reactions: Glutathione Conjugation and Mercapturic Acid Formation
Several distinctive characteristics distinguish glutathione conjugation from other phase II...
Oxidation of Alcohols
The process of oxidation in a chemical reaction is observed in any of the three forms:
Redox Reactions

