FAQ
What is an oxidation redox reaction?
What is the difference between an antioxidant and a redox therapeutic?
Can you provide examples of antioxidants?
Can you provide examples of a redox therapeutic?
Why is redox important in biology?
What organ systems depend upon redox for function?
Can problems in redox lead to disease?
What specific problems in redox are responsible for disease?
Why is Edison focusing on mitochondrial disease?
Are all mitochondrial diseases inherited?
Why do many mitochondrial diseases have neuromuscular components?
Redox describes a chemical reaction in which electrons move from one molecule to another. The term 'redox' comes from a contraction of the words 'reduction' and 'oxidation'. These terms describe the direction of electron transfer relative to a specific molecule that's involved in a given redox process. The molecule that has more electrons at the end of the reaction than it had at the start is reduced; conversely, the molecule that has fewer electrons than it had at the start is oxidized. Electrons must be conserved in a chemical reaction - there must be a giver and a receiver of electrons; therefore, in every redox reaction there must be both an oxidized and a reduced molecule. In nature, cells uses redox to power themselves, and CoQ10 is one of many molecules used by cells to move electrons via redox.
What is an oxidation redox reaction?
In an oxidation redox reaction, a substance is oxidized when it has fewer electrons at the end of the reaction than it had at the start. These electrons are transferred to other molecules or substances that participate in this reaction. Oxygen is a molecule that is able to receive electrons from most other substances, and thereby oxidize those substances. In doing so, the molecule of oxygen is reduced to a variety of different chemical species, and ultimately to water. Because oxygen is a strong oxidizing agent, redox reactions that involve oxygen are able to release a large amount of energy. The chemical energy derived from redox reactions with oxygen is what drives all aerobic metabolism. In addition to oxygen, many biologically important substances are strongly oxidizing. Some of these are far more chemically reactive than oxygen itself, and, when harnessed, can be used for the production of energy, synthesis of biomolecules, chemical defense against pathogens and cellular signaling. However, when uncontrolled, these highly reactive molecules have the potential to cause profound biological damage.
An antioxidant is a molecule capable of slowing or preventing oxidation of other molecules. An antioxidant, in a biologic setting, prevents uncontrolled and destructive chemical reactions between highly reactive oxidizing molecules and the biological milieu. Antioxidants are reducing agents that react with potentially damaging oxidizing species produced as a part of normal cellular function, and antioxidant systems have co-evolved to accommodate them safely thus preventing their toxicity. Indeed, an aerobically respiratory cell is awash in high concentrations of a variety of endogenous and exogenous antioxidant molecules. It is necessary for antioxidants to be abundant in biological systems because once they react with a highly reactive oxidizing species via a redox reaction, they can no longer function as an antioxidant and must be replaced.
What is the difference between an antioxidant and a redox therapeutic?
Generally, antioxidants are non-discriminating and non-selective-they will react with any sufficiently reactive oxidizing species they encounter. In contrast, almost all productive biological redox processes have exquisite selectivity and specificity. Most biological redox molecules can participate in a redox reaction hundreds or even thousands of times. This behavior is called redox cycling and is key to the function of a redox therapeutic. By designing molecules that can interact with these specific biological processes, Edison's compounds can influence and repair the flow of electrons through the redox pathways in a cell. Edison’s compounds designed to interact with these biological redox processes are recognized by cellular redox systems not only by their shape and size, but also by their tuned redox properties. The ability to control the flow of electrons in the redox processes of a cell can have a direct impact on energy generation and cellular signaling, and affect the treatment of disease.
Can you provide examples of antioxidants?
Two of the most common antioxidants include vitamin C and vitamin E. These compounds are critical to health, and are essential components of a human diet. Vitamin C functions primarily as a water-soluble antioxidant, while vitamin E exerts its effects as a lipid-soluble antioxidant. A variety of other antioxidants, such as resveratrol and tannins, are found in plants, and have been shown to have health benefits. Additionally, there exists a class of man-made antioxidants that are added to manufactured products to prevent oxidation. Examples in the packaged food industry include butylatedhydroxytoluene (BHT) and propylgallate.
Can you provide examples of a redox therapeutic?
CoQ10 is the prototypical redox therapeutic. Although its physical characteristics make it a poor drug, it participates in specific biological redox pathways, and unlike an antioxidant, a single molecule is able to participate many thousands of times. Despite its poor drug properties, CoQ10 has been demonstrated to have some clinical benefit in diseases with a mitochondrial component, such as Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease.
Why is redox important in biology?
Redox reactions generate biological energy required for life. At its most simplistic level humans derive energy from light emitted by the sun and trapped by plants through photosynthesis. The sun’s energy is stored by concentrating electrons in the building of organic molecules, such as sugars and fats When we digest and breakdown these fuels to power our cells, the energy stored within concentrated reducing equivalents is released and ultimately transferred, to oxygen. The energy harnessed by these redox reactions is itself used to generate short-term stores of energy in the form of ATP, which is used more directly in driving the energetic mechanisms of biology. The transfer of electrons– redox, drives the conversion of macromolecules to biological energy in the form of ATP.
What organ systems depend upon redox for function?
All organ systems in our body rely on redox reactions, in as much as all organs require energy for function. Some organ systems like red blood cells have far less ongoing energy needs, in comparison to the brain. In contrast, skeletal muscle can regulate its energy needs in response to work demands. Hence, skeletal and cardiac muscle have variable redox requirements, in response to workload.
Can problems in redox lead to disease?
Yes. At its core a redox “problem” would be expected to result in inadvertent oxidation of an untoward substrate leading, to what is often refereed to as oxidative stress. While oxidative stress events have been observed in a wide variety of disease of aging ranging form diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurodegenerative disease, it has become increasing clear that discrete alterations in redox reactions play a far greater role in disease. A convincing body of data is emerging suggesting that defects in redox signaling pathways can trigger inflammation, autophagy, programmed cell death, and other disease-associated mechanisms.
What specific problems in redox are responsible for disease?
Three generalized defects can result from redox disturbances that include: i) defects in the generation of energy; ii) defects in redox signaling pathways; and iii) increased oxidative stress. Each of these mechanisms has been implicated in a variety of diseases. For example, in mitochondrial disease, there is a bona fide defect in energy generation, resulting in decreased oxygen consumption, and ATP production. In contrast, stroke and re-perfusion injury results from both a decrease in ATP generation but is also associated with markedly increased oxidative stress.
Why is Edison focusing on mitochondrial disease?
Edison’s commitment to inherited mitochondrial diseases is based on two reasons. First, there are no treatments for the pernicious, debilitating, and lethal diseases. Secondly, the information derived through developing drugs for inherited mitochondrial diseases are likely to have direct applications to other diseases, such as Huntington’s disease, where defects in mitochondrial function have also been implicated.
Are all mitochondrial diseases inherited?
No. Today we understand that many diseases that lacked a proper definition are indeed caused by inherited defects in either the nuclear or mitochondrial genome. The prevalence of inherited mitochondrial disease is most likely underestimated. In addition to DNA defects causing mitochondrial disease, other non-DNA mechanisms can result in the malfunction of the mitochondria. A partial list includes pathophysiologies associated with metabolic disease, aging, trauma, ischemia, sepsis and poisonings.
Why do many mitochondrial diseases have neuromuscular components?
While the precise reason for this observation is not know, the current belief is that the brain and muscle are differentially affected in mitochondrial disease owing to their high-energy demands.