Chemistry Department Seminar

The biological consequences of the free radical production are the central subject of a very lively scientific debate, focusing on the estimation of the type and extent of damage, as well as the efficiency of the protective and repair systems. When studying free radical based chemical mechanisms, it is very important to establish biomimetic models, which allow the experiments to be performed in a simplified environment, but suitably designed to be in strict connection with cellular conditions. The biomimetic modeling approach has been coupled with physical organic chemistry methodologies and the basic knowledge of free radical reactivity, thus allowing the molecular basis of important processes, as well as molecular libraries of products concerning unsaturated lipids, sulfur-containing proteins and nucleic acids, to be identified.

In this context, radiation-induced transformations have been considered in depth together with the systematic study of all possible factors that drive reactivity in aqueous medium and the characterization of reaction or degradation products. This research leads to the discovery of new biomarkers and molecular libraries to be used for the evaluation of radiation effects. Ongoing projects in our group deal with lipidomics, genomics and proteomics of free radical stress and some examples will be described: (i) radical generation in the different positions of the sugar residue or purine base, and clarification of important reaction intermediates by pulse radiolysis;1 (ii) cis-trans isomerisation of unsaturated fatty acids with the formation of trans lipids in liposome systems;2 (iii) tandem damage of lipids and sulfur-containing proteins, with the event of post-translational modifications of amino acid sequences containing cysteine and methionine.3

Recent Selected References:
1) (a) Chatgilialoglu, C.; Ferreri, C.; Terzidis, M. A. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2011, 40, 1368. (b) Belmadoui, N.; Boussicault, F.; Guerra, M.; Ravanat, J. L.; Chatgili