Oxidative Folding - ROS and Diseases

ROS and Diseases

Because of the property of Ero1p to transfer electrons directly to molecular oxygen via a flavin-dependent reaction, its activity may produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). In bacteria, this problem is solved by coupling oxidative folding to the respiratory chain. There, the reduction of molecular oxygen to water is carried out by a complex series of proteins, which catalyse this reaction very efficiently. In eukaryotes, the respiratory chain is separated from oxidative folding since cellular respiration takes place in the mitochondria and the formation of disulfide bonds occurs in the ER. Because of this, there is much more risk that ROS are produced in eukaryotic cells during oxidative folding. As is known these ROS may cause many diseases such as atherosclerosis and some neurodegenerative diseases.