Renan Campos Chisté, Marisa Freitas, Adriana Zerlotti Mercadante and Eduarda Fernandes Pages 4234 - 4256 ( 23 )
The production of superoxide anion radical (O<sub>2</sub>•<sup>-</sup>) is essential for the life of aerobic organisms. This free radical acts as a signaling molecule, regulating numerous biological processes including apoptosis, aging, and senescence. Nevertheless, when overproduction of O<sub>2</sub>•<sup>-</sup> occurs and/or antioxidant defences are deficient, oxidative stress may develop, damaging important biomolecules and altering their physiological function. These effects have been associated to the development of several diseases. Scavenging of O<sub>2</sub>•<sup>-</sup> has been used as a hallmark to test the antioxidant capacity of several types of compounds in cellular and non-cellular systems. However, despite the pathophysiological importance of O<sub>2</sub>•<sup>-</sup>, the information about its endogenous and/or chemical generation and detection is dispersed and there are no reports that concisely cover the information in an integrated form. This gap can explain the limitations attributed to the currently used systems, namely in what concerns the selectivity, specificity and validation. This review attempts to provide a critical assessment of the available O<sub>2</sub>•<sup>-</sup> generating and detection, both in endogenous and chemical systems, scrutinizing its advantages and limitations in order to facilitate the choice and implementation of the O<sub>2</sub>•<sup>-</sup> generator and/or detection method that better fits the researchers’ objectives.
Superoxide radical, endogenous generation, chemical generation, scavenging activity, bioactive compounds, optical probes.
UCIBIOREQUIMTE, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto. Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal., , , UCIBIOREQUIMTE, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto. Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.