Oxidative stress and superoxide dismutase in development, aging and gene regulation

Free radicals and other reactive oxygen species are produced in the metabol ic pathways of aerobic cells and affect a number of biological processes. O xidation reactions have been postulated to play a role in aging, a number o f degenerative diseases, differentiation and development as well as serving as subcellular messengers in gene regulatory and signal transduction pathw ays. The discovery of the activity of superoxide dismutase is a seminal wor k in free radical biology, because it established that free radicals were g enerated by cells and because it made removal of a specific free radical su bstance possible for the first time, which greatly accelerated research in this area, In this review, the role of reactive oxygen in aging, amyotrophi c lateral sclerosis (a neurodegenerative disease), development, differentia tion, and signal transduction are discussed. Emphasis is also given to the role of superoxide dismutases in these phenomena,