Oxidative Stress and Aging - Second International Conference. Technologies for assessment and intervention strategies. 2-5 April 2001, Maui, USA.

The study of oxidative contributions to aging has reached sufficient maturity to support the development of interventional strategies designed to forestall or reverse protein cross-linking, oxidation of DNA and lipids, and mitochondrial senescence associated with chronic pathology and aging. Catalytic antioxidants, including combined superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase mimics, extend the lifespan of oxidatively compromised animals such as Mn-SOD knockout mice, and will be entering the clinic for radiation-induced dermatitis. Substituted phenacylthiozolium compounds that slow the formation and break extant protein cross-linkages formed via Maillard reactions, restoring vascular compliance in aged animals, and are showing efficacy in clinical trials. Non-feminizing estrogen analogs (eg, 17- alpha estradiol) block cytotoxicity in a host of oxidative stress models and moderate neuronal loss in MCAO stroke models. Efficacy of the polycyclic phenols is synergistically amplified by glutathione supplementation, suggesting that the two function as a redox couple analogous to vitamin E and ascorbate. Finally, discovery of novel small molecules designed to stabilize mitochondrial function during Ca(2+)-induced oxidative stress, such as that occurring during stroke or myocardial ischemia reperfusion, will be accelerated by a proprietary fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay developed at MitoKor. Maintaining mitochondrial function under these circumstances will improve cellular bioenergetic and oxidative status, and hence moderate secondary necrosis and apoptosis.