Müller J M, Rupec R A, Baeuerle P A
Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, Tumor Biology Center, Freiburg, Germany.
Methods. 1997 Mar;11(3):301-12. doi: 10.1006/meth.1996.0424.
Reactive oxygen intermediates (ROIs), such as hydrogen peroxide or superoxide, are an evolutionarily ancient threat to all organisms. Exposure of bacteria to ROIs initiates a genetic program that coordinates the production of novel proteins with protective functions. This genetic response is mediated by regulatory proteins that have the potential to initiate transcription of genes when the levels of the ROIs increase. In plant cells, a variety of viral pathogens increase hydrogen peroxide production, which is required to mount a defensive genetic response. It was suggested that in this case H2O2 is used as a secondary messenger and an immediate-early pathogen signal. In higher vertebrates, two transcription factors, nuclear factor kappa B and activator protein 1, were found to respond to ROIs. Both are well studied: they are induced by a great variety of seemingly unrelated conditions and serve important roles in immune, inflammatory, and other pathogen-related genetic responses. In this article we discuss how the ROI responsiveness of transcription factors can be experimentally studied and summarize evidence to suggest that ROIs have been conserved during evolution as messengers of a general pathogen response.
活性氧中间体（ROIs），如过氧化氢或超氧化物，是所有生物体在进化过程中面临的古老威胁。细菌暴露于ROIs会启动一个基因程序，该程序协调具有保护功能的新蛋白质的产生。这种基因反应由调节蛋白介导，当ROIs水平增加时，这些调节蛋白有可能启动基因转录。在植物细胞中，多种病毒病原体可增加过氧化氢的产生，而这是引发防御性基因反应所必需的。有人提出，在这种情况下，H2O2被用作第二信使和即时早期病原体信号。在高等脊椎动物中，发现两种转录因子，即核因子κB和激活蛋白1，对ROIs有反应。这两种转录因子都得到了充分研究：它们由各种各样看似无关的条件诱导，并在免疫、炎症和其他与病原体相关的基因反应中发挥重要作用。在本文中，我们讨论了如何通过实验研究转录因子对ROIs的反应性，并总结证据表明ROIs在进化过程中作为一般病原体反应的信使得以保留。
