Sensitive and Specific Fluorescent Probing of Oxidative Stress in Different Classes of Membrane Phos

Reactive-oxygen species and organic free radicals are essential metabolic intermediates and have important regulatory functions. Overproduction of these reactive metabolites is implicated in the etiology of a host of degenerative diseases (1 ), such as cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disease, in acute conditions such as trauma and infection, and in aging. Of the various types of oxidative damage that cells undergo, lipid peroxidation is considered to be one of the major contributors to oxidative injury (2 ); thus, strict regulation of lipid peroxidation is extremely important for normal cell physiology. Quantitative assays of lipid peroxidation in intact cells are essential for evaluating oxidative damage from various sources, and in testing the efficacy of antioxidant interventions.