Lau Andy T Y, Wang Ying, Chiu Jen-Fu
Department of Anatomy, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China.
J Cell Biochem. 2008 May 15;104(2):657-67. doi: 10.1002/jcb.21655.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are natural products inevitably generated along cellular metabolism. Due to their highly reactive nature, which can damage DNA, proteins and lipids, cells utilize antioxidative or defense systems to balance these toxic products to keep the cells in a state of redox homeostasis. However, under the situation of imbalance in redox status, depending on the magnitude of ROS encountered, high levels of ROS can induce apoptosis, whereas chronic low levels of ROS promote vascular diseases such as arteriosclerosis. Although ROS seem to be catastrophic to life, accumulating evidence points to the beneficial roles of ROS by virtue of the ability as chemotherapeutic agents to cure human diseases. Many anti-cancer drugs have been developed in this way which can generate ROS and cause oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in cancer cells. The effects of ROS are paradoxical because they can act as both disease culprits and chemotherapeutic agents. In this review, the current knowledge of ROS and the potential applications of ROS in cancer therapeutic will be discussed.
活性氧（ROS）是细胞代谢过程中不可避免产生的天然产物。由于其具有高反应活性，能够损伤DNA、蛋白质和脂质，细胞利用抗氧化或防御系统来平衡这些有毒产物，以使细胞维持在氧化还原稳态的状态。然而，在氧化还原状态失衡的情况下，根据所遇到的ROS水平，高水平的ROS可诱导细胞凋亡，而慢性低水平的ROS则会促进诸如动脉硬化等血管疾病。尽管ROS似乎对生命具有灾难性影响，但越来越多的证据表明，ROS凭借其作为治疗人类疾病的化学治疗剂的能力而具有有益作用。许多抗癌药物就是通过这种方式开发出来的，它们能够产生活性氧并在癌细胞中引发氧化应激诱导的细胞凋亡。ROS的作用是矛盾的，因为它们既可以充当疾病的元凶，又可以作为化学治疗剂。在这篇综述中，我们将讨论关于ROS的当前知识以及ROS在癌症治疗中的潜在应用。
