Free Radical Research Group
Free Radical Research is one of the Pathology Department's major research interests.
The Free Radical Research Group consists of biochemists and cell biologists undertaking a range of interrelated research projects on aspects of oxidative stress and antioxidant action under the direction of Christine Winterbourn, Tony Kettle, Margreet Vissers and Mark Hampton.
Research Areas
- oxidant production by neutrophils, with emphasis on the enzymology of myeloperoxidase
- the molecular & cellular reactions of the neutrophil oxidant, hypochlorous acid
- mechanisms and consequences of thiol protein oxidation
- redox regulation of cell signaling
- oxidative stress and apoptosis
- radical scavenging mechanisms
- reactions of superoxide radicals
The group has an active programme of developing biomarker assays for specific oxidants and applying them to investigating oxidative injury in disease. A protein carbonyl ELISA kit for measuring protein oxidation is available from BioCell Corp.
The Free Radical Research laboratories are well equipped for tissue culture, HPLC, GC/MS and LC/MS, fluorescence and UV/visible spectrophotometry, proteomic analysis and imaging, flow cytometry and microplate analyses.
Collaborative clinical projects include investigations of the role of oxidants in
- lung disease and brain injury in premature infants
- cystic fibrosis
- inflammatory conditions such as asthma, gout and sepsis
- gastrointestinal tract diseases
Support and Funding
The group is supported by Health Research Council of New Zealand and also holds grants from Marsden Fund, the Cancer Society of New Zealand and the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation. It is one of the contributing laboratories to the National Research Centre for Growth and Development (Centre of Excellence) and the mainstay of the University of Otago major research theme 'Oxidative Stress in Health and Disease'.
