A Pulse-Radiolysis Study on Active Oxygen

Abstract

The recent findings of the enzymic and non-enzymic generation of the superoxide anion, O₂ ^-, and its scavenging enzyme, superoxide dismutase, in living organisms may help to explain the molecular mechanisms of oxygen toxicity and also the oxygen effect observed in the radiation biology (McCord and Fridovich, 1968; McCord et al, 1971). In this paper we focused our attention on the reactions of O₂ with certain haemoproteins such as myoglobin, haemoglobin, cytochrome c and peroxidase. The possible function of myoglobin in protecting against O₂ is also discussed. In the present study, the pulse-radiolysis technique in combination with the optical detection method was used with the nanosecond time-resolution.