Tomas Lindahl: 2015 Nobel Laureate

The Role of the Reactive Oxygen Species Scavenger Agent, Astaxanthin, in the Protection of Cisplatin-Treated Patients Against Hearing Loss

Emerging evidence of significant hearing loss occurring shortly after cisplatin administration in cancer patients has stimulated research into the causes and treatment of this side effect. Although the aetiology of cisplatin-induced hearing loss (CIHL) remains unknown, an increasing body of research suggests that it is associated with excessive generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the cochlea. Astaxanthin, a xanthophyll carotenoid, has powerful anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties based on its unique cell membrane function, diverse biological activities, and ability to permeate the blood-brain barrier. In this review, we summarize the role of ROS in CIHL and the effect of astaxanthin on inhibiting ROS production. We focus on investigating the mechanism of action of astaxanthin in suppressing excessive production of ROS.

Oxidative DNA damage & repair: An introduction

This introductory article should be viewed as a prologue to the Free Radical Biology & Medicine Special Issue devoted to the important topic of Oxidatively Damaged DNA and its Repair. This special issue is dedicated to Professor Tomas Lindahl, co-winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his seminal discoveries in the area repair of oxidatively damaged DNA. In the past several years it has become abundantly clear that DNA oxidation is a major consequence of life in an oxygen-rich environment. Concomitantly, survival in the presence of oxygen, with the constant threat of deleterious DNA mutations and deletions, has largely been made possible through the evolution of a vast array of DNA repair enzymes. The articles in this Oxidatively Damaged DNA & Repair special issue detail the reactions by which intracellular DNA is oxidatively damaged, and the enzymatic reactions and pathways by which living organisms survive such assaults by repair processes.