Oxidative Stress

By Jamshed Arslan, Pharm. D., PhD.

By Michalina Hanzel, PhD

By Christina Towers, PhD.

Disulfide bond formation is a pivotal step in the maturation and release of secretory proteins that are controlled by specific endoplasmic reticulum (ER) resident enzymes. An important element in this process is ERO (ER oxidoreduction), a glycosylated flavoenzyme tightly associated with oxidative protein folding that lacks the known ER retention motifs.

Reactive oxygen species, ROS, are beneficially involved in many signaling pathways that control development and maintain cellular homeostasis. In physiological conditions, a tightly regulated redox balance protects cells from injurious ROS activity, altered balance leads to various pathological conditions including cancer. MAP17 is a small 17-kDa non-glycosylated membrane protein that is overexpressed in many tumors of different origins, including carcinomas.