Superoxide dismutase activity in rabbit reticulocytes

Cembrane diterpenes from the gorgonian Lophogorgia peruana

The chemical study of the gorgonian Lophogorgia peruana collected at the Gulf of California has led to the isolation of the new diterpenes lophodienone (2), lophodiol A (3), lophodiol B (4), 17-acetoxylophotoxin (5), 15,16-epoxylophotoxin (6), 17-acetoxy-15,16-epoxylophotoxin (7), and isoepoxylophodione (8), together with the known compounds lophotoxin (1), rubifolide (9), lopholide (10), deoxylophotoxin (11), and the lophotoxin analogues 12 and 13. The structures of the new metabolites have been established by spectroscopic techniques and chemical correlation. The in vitro cytotoxicity has been tested against three tumor cell lines.

Sarcophytonolides E-H, cembranolides from the Hainan soft coral Sarcophyton latum

Four new cembrane diterpenes, sarcophytonolides E-H (1-4), were isolated from the Hainan soft coral Sarcophyton latum. Their structures were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic (IR, MS, 2D NMR) analysis and by comparison with related known compounds. The absolute stereochemistry of sarcophytonolide H (4) was determined by applying the modified Mosher's method.

Cytotoxic cembranoid diterpenes from a soft coral Sinularia gibberosa

Five new alpha-methylene-gamma-lactone-bearing cembranoid diterpenes, sinularolides A-E (1-5), along with 10 known cembranoids, were isolated from the soft coral Sinularia gibberosa. Their structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic (IR, MS, 2D NMR) data analysis. Compounds 2-5 showed moderate activity against selected tumor cell lines.

Aspects of the structure, function, and applications of superoxide dismutase

The current status of superoxide dismutase (SOD) is that it is an enzyme with diverse ramifications. This review attempts an understanding of SOD as a structural, functional, and biological entity. Accordingly, the review is in three parts. The first part discusses SOD in terms of protein structure, proceeding from primary to secondary and three-dimensional structure for the three forms of SOD: copper/zinc SOD, manganese SOD, and iron SOD. This is the order of structural knowledge of the enzyme. Iron SOD is an enzyme of prokaryotes and some higher plants. Manganese SOD is an enzyme of prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Copper/zinc SOD is an enzyme of eukaryotes and certain prokaryotes. The evolutionary relationships of the three forms of SOD, the status of the copper/zinc SOD gene in prokaryotes, and the cloning and sequencing of SOD genes are discussed. The second part of the review deals with the catalytic mechanism of SOD in the three forms of the enzyme. Structural and mechanistic conclusions from various spectroscopic studies are critically considered. A detailed picture is given of the active site of copper/zinc SOD. The third part is a review of SOD in the general context of oxygen toxicity. After consideration of the question of superoxide toxicity and superoxide pathology, several areas in which SOD has been investigated or used as a tool in a biochemical, pharmacological, or clinical context are discussed, including population genetics; trisomy 21; development and senescence; the nutritional copper, zinc, and manganese status; hemolysis and anemia; oxygen toxicity in the lung and nervous system; inflammation, autoimmune disease and chromosome breakage, ischemia and degenerative changes; radiation damage; and malignancy. A comprehensive picture is given of measurements of SOD activity in disease states, and the question of superoxide-related disease is considered at several points.

Lipid peroxidation in rabbit reticulocytes

Lipid peroxides in rabbit erythrocytes and plasma were determined while anemia was induced by daily bleeding. They increased as reticulocytes increased and returned to normal with the morphological transformation to mature cells.