Toxicological Sciences vol. 81 no. 2 © Society of Toxicology 2004; all rights reserved.
TOXICOLOGICAL HIGHLIGHT |
Control of Glutathione Synthesis in Early Embryo Development
Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Bloomington, Indiana 47405
Received July 12, 2004; accepted August 13, 2004
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Hansen, Lee, and Harris' paper in this issue, entitled ‘Spatial Activities and Induction of Glutamate-Cysteine Ligase (GCL) in the Postimplantation Rat Embryo and Visceral Yolk Sac’ evaluates the molecular regulation of glutathione synthesis in embryos versus in the visceral yolk sac at a relatively early stage of embryonic development (rat gestational days 10 and 11). Glutathione is one of the principal antioxidant free radical scavengers in animal cells, and the most abundant low molecular weight thiol (Josephy, 1997
). Glutathione contributes to key antioxidant metabolic pathways by acting as a proton donor, or as the cofactor and nucleophilic conjugate. The first reaction, catalyzed by glutathione peroxidase, reduces hydrogen peroxide to water and yields oxidized glutathione. Similarly, glutathione can donate a proton directly to a free radical, including the very reactive hydroxyl radical. Glutathione also scavenges electrophiles, either by direct interaction (noncatalyzed) or in a reaction catalyzed by glutathione-S-transferase. It is
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at Indiana University, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Spea Building, Bloomington, IN 47405. Fax: (812) 855-4556. E-mail: dhenshel@indiana.edu.