[Frontiers in Bioscience 14, 4457-4463, January 1, 2009]

A systematic review of human antioxidant genes

Daniel P. Gelain1, Rodrigo J. S. Dalmolin1, Vanessa L. Belau1, Jose C. F. Moreira1, Fabio Klamt1, Mauro A. A. Castro1,2

1Unidade de Bioinformatica, Centro de Estudos em Estresse Oxidativo, Departamento de Bioquimica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2600-anexo, Porto Alegre 90035-003, Brazil, 2Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Av. Itacolomi 3600, Gravatai 94170-240, Brazil

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Searching for Potential Antioxidant Genes
3.1. Databases and data selection
3.2. Defining antioxidant genes
3.3. Criteria of inclusion
4. The human antioxidant genes list
4.1. Superoxide dismutases
4.2. Peroxidases
4.3. Thiol-redox proteins
5. Human antioxidant related gene/protein/substrate association network
6. Possible applications and perspectives
7. Acknowledgements
8. References

1. ABSTRACT

The balance between production and clearance of reactive species is essential for cell survival. Antioxidant cellular systems evolved to maintain a redox homeostasis under different physiological and pathological conditions. Therefore, many authors aim at better understanding the mechanisms and functions of cellular antioxidant components and their relationships between each other and with more general cell functions. Nonetheless, the definition of an "antioxidant system" is a wide and sometimes relative concept, and there is no consensus regarding the necessary requisites for classifying a cell functional component into such category. Here, we suggest a list of human antioxidant genes comprehending all gene products fulfilling specific inclusion criteria, such as antioxidant enzymatic function, participation in redox reactions and other molecular interactions directly related to antioxidant activity. The criteria are discussed and the gene-protein-substrate associations between the components of the list are presented. In addition, at http://www.ufrgs.br/icbs/hag we provide a network-based model of human antioxidant genes, which can be used as reference tool to access several database resources (e.g., RefSeq, Ensembl, HGNC and the NCBI Entrez database).