Reactive Oxygen Species in the Brain: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Viktor Stolc completed his undergraduate education in Biochemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. Under the mentorship of Sydney Altman, he earned his Ph.D. in the Department of Cell Biology at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Stolc is also a graduate of the Physiology Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole. As a Damon Runyan Cancer Research Foundation fellow, Dr. Stolc completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Biochemistry at Stanford University School of Medicine. In 2000, Dr. Stolc came to NASA Ames Research Center where he was one of the early founding members of the Center for Nanotechnology. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Stolc moved to Space Biosciences, where he became the Agency lead for genomics, pursuing a wide range of fundamental studies of gene expression in humans and in model organisms. Dr. Stolc currently serves as a Senior Scientist in the Space Biosciences Research Branch (where he previously served as Branch Chief), and he continues to pursue genomics research with a focus on somatic mutation, space physiology and the environmental risks associated with spaceflight. In 2021, Dr. Stolc won the H. Julian Allen Award, the highest scientific honor that can be bestowed on a scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center.
Abstract:
The role of reactive oxygen species in the brain and in the peripheral nervous system is one of the most complex topics in the field of biology.
Reactive oxygen species are critical for early brain development. Physiological levels of reactive oxygen species support crucial cellular processes, acting as second messengers and regulating intrinsic signaling pathways. After development has taken place, reactive oxygen species play an important role in regulating synaptic plasticity and memory, with measurable effects on Long Term Potentiation.
But reactive oxygen species can also have deleterious effects in the brain, as seen in degenerative pathological processes such as Parkinson’s Disease, ischemic brain disease and even traumatic brain injury. In Alzheimer’s Disease and even in the normal aging process, reactive oxygen species contribute to brain dysfunction as well.
Although the foregoing phenomena relate to reactive oxygen species generated locally in the brain, they prompt an important question: Might reactive oxygen species generated by systemic disease—as a result of metabolic syndrome and other metabolic disorders—affect the brain as well?
This presentation will examine evidence for the impact of systemic disease-generated reactive oxygen species on cognitive function, sleep regulation and other neurological processes.