András Szarka

András Szarka earned his MSc degree in biochemical engineering from the Budapest University of Technology in 1999, he defended his PhD thesis in 2003 at the doctoral school of molecular medicine of Semmelweis University. In 2017, he was appointed to full professor at the Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology of the Budapest University of Technology. His scientific interests include oxidative stress, oxidative stress-induced cell death, antioxidant systems, and the bioenergetics of cells.

Killer Queen: the biochemical aspects of oxidative stress

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can damage the cells in several different ways, which can lead to cell death. Only one form of cell death was described so far, that is considered to be of purely oxidative stress driven. In the process of ferroptosis, the cell’s labile iron pool and lipid peroxidation affecting the plasma membrane play an important role. Does all oxidative stress lead to ferroptosis? How is ferroptosis related to other oxidative stress-induced cell death? Can oxidative stress only be a harmful process?

With the appearance of atmospheric oxygen, the living organisms began to carry out oxidative metabolism, which enabled the production of significantly more energy, but also resulted in the increased formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In parallel, the molecules and processes responsible for their elimination appeared in order to maintain the redox homeostasis. However, this balance is extremely fragile, the formation of ROS can easily become predominant, triggering oxidative stress.

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