Cell biology and proposed mechanisms

The cell-level vocabulary behind ozone, light and heat.

Terms (15)

Nrf2Nrf2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2) is a protein that switches genes on. When a cell detects oxidative or chemical stress, Nrf2 moves into the cell nucleus and increases production of protective enzymes, including glutathione-making enzymes, superoxide dismutase and catalase.
Lipid oxidation products (LOPs)Lipid oxidation products are the chemicals formed when an oxidant attacks fats, particularly the polyunsaturated fatty acids in cell membranes and blood. They include aldehydes such as 4-hydroxynonenal and malondialdehyde. In ozone therapy they are proposed as the messengers that carry the effect onward.
GlutathioneGlutathione is a small molecule made of three amino acids that every human cell manufactures for itself. It is the body's most abundant internal antioxidant, neutralising peroxides and reactive chemicals, and it is recycled between a reduced form (GSH) and an oxidised form (GSSG).
Superoxide dismutase (SOD)Superoxide dismutase is an enzyme that converts superoxide, a reactive by-product of normal breathing at the cellular level, into hydrogen peroxide and ordinary oxygen. It is the first line of the body's built-in antioxidant defence, and works alongside catalase, which clears the peroxide it makes.
CatalaseCatalase is an enzyme that breaks hydrogen peroxide down into water and oxygen. It is found in almost all aerobic organisms, concentrated in cell compartments called peroxisomes, and it is one of the fastest enzymes known — a single molecule can process millions of peroxide molecules per second.
ATP (adenosine triphosphate)ATP is the molecule cells use to move energy from where it is released to where it is spent. Breaking one of its phosphate bonds releases usable energy; the cell then rebuilds it. It is not stored in bulk — an adult recycles a mass of ATP comparable to their own body weight each day.
Mitochondrial membrane potentialMitochondrial membrane potential is the voltage difference across the inner membrane of a mitochondrion, typically around minus 140 to minus 180 millivolts. It is created by pumping protons out and is the stored energy that the ATP-making enzyme then spends. A collapse in it is a standard early sign of cell death.
Electron transport chainThe electron transport chain is a series of four protein complexes embedded in the inner membrane of the mitochondrion. It passes electrons stripped from food molecules down a series of carriers to oxygen, and uses the energy released to pump protons across the membrane.
Oxidative phosphorylationOxidative phosphorylation is the process by which mitochondria make most of a cell's ATP. The electron transport chain builds a proton gradient across the inner mitochondrial membrane, and the enzyme ATP synthase lets those protons back through, using the flow to attach a phosphate to ADP.
HormesisHormesis describes a dose-response pattern in which a small dose of something has the opposite effect to a large dose — typically stimulating or protective at low exposure, harmful at high exposure. It is a real and studied phenomenon in toxicology, pharmacology and exercise physiology.
Oxidative preconditioningOxidative preconditioning is the proposal that repeated small, controlled doses of an oxidant train a cell's defences, so that a later and larger oxidative insult causes less damage. It is the central mechanistic hypothesis of ozone therapy, and it is supported mainly by cell and animal work.
Adjunctive therapyAn adjunct is used in addition to a primary treatment, not instead of it. The term is standard in clinical medicine and it carries a specific commitment: the main treatment continues unchanged, and the adjunct is judged on whether it adds anything on top.
Synergistic effectA synergistic effect is one where two or more interventions combined produce a larger result than the sum of what each produces alone. It has a precise pharmacological definition and demonstrating it requires a specific experimental design, not simply observing that a combination works.
ModulationModulation means adjusting the level, timing or intensity of a biological process. Attached to a named process, as in photobiomodulation, it is a precise technical term. Used on its own, it is a general summary word.
AntioxidantIn biochemistry an antioxidant is any molecule that slows or prevents the oxidation of another molecule, usually by being oxidised itself. In everyday use the word has come to mean a supplement or food assumed to be healthy. The two meanings have drifted far apart.