OXIDATIVE STRESS AS A MEDIATOR OF APOPTOSIS

Many agents which induce apoptosis are either oxidants or stimulators of cellular oxidative metabolism. Conversely, many inhibitors of apopt osis have antioxidant activities or enhance cellular antioxidant defen ses. Mammalian cells exist in a state of oxidative siege in which surv ival requires an appropriate balance of oxidants and antioxidants. Tho mas Buttke and Paul Sandstrom suggest that eukaryotic cells may benefi t from this perilous existence by invoking oxidative stress as a commo n mediator of apoptosis.