ABSTRACT
Reductive oxygen activation occurs in most, if not all, aerobic cells as a by-product of normal cellular metabolism. The levels of the active-oxygen species generated can be considerably stimulated by a variety of drugs and by manipulation of the metabolic conditions. An increased reductive oxygen activation invariably leads to deleterious cellular effects which can result in cell death. 1 , 2 In order to elucidate the role of the various reduced active-oxygen species in biological systems, it is highly desirable to be able to specifically generate the species of interest. This can be achieved by physicochemical methods such as pulse radiolysis and electrochemical techniques, but these are not generally applicable or available for routine use in biochemical laboratories. As a result, various enzymatic systems have been developed to generate active-oxygen species, but which differ from each other in their specific formation of the actual oxygen intermediate produced.
