Balancing oxygen transport and free radical damage in the red blood cell 
(Seminars)
29 May 2012
3.30pm
Venue: Room 501.505, Level 5, Building 501, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Grafton Campus
Contact info: Robyn McDonald
Contact email: r.mcdonald@auckland.ac.nz
Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology seminar by Professor Christine Winterbourn, Pathology Department, University of Otago.
Red blood cells transport oxygen around the body by binding it to the reactive haem centre of haemoglobin. The trade-off for this is that some of the oxygen is continually released as superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, and a number of drugs and metabolites are oxidised by the haem centre to free radicals. Red cell survival is dependent on a complex antioxidant network that protects against these reactive oxygen species. I will discuss the work of my lab over the years on characterising oxidant and antioxidant pathways in the red cell as well as the wider application of these findings.
