Oxidants are reactive oxygen species known to be harmful to living organisms at high concentrations and have been linked to cellular aging. Now, a study from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, observed that low levels of the oxidant hydrogen peroxide can stimulate an enzyme that helps slow the process in ageing of yeast cells.
"Previous studies of these enzymes have shown that they participate in yeast cells' defences against harmful oxidants," says Mikael Molin, who leads the research group at Chalmers' Department of Biology and Biological Engineering. "But the peroxiredoxins also help extend the life span of cells when they are subjected to calorie restriction. The mechanisms behind these functions have not yet been fully understood."
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"Now we have found a new function of Tsa1," says Cecilia Picazo, postdoctoral researcher at the Division of Systems and Synthetic Biology at Chalmers. "Previously, we thought that this enzyme simply neutralises reactive oxygen species. But now we have shown that Tsa1 actually requires a certain amount of hydrogen peroxide to be triggered in order to participate in the process of slowing down the ageing of yeast cells."
Source: Science Daily