酸化的ストレスによる損傷を受けた細胞に対する生体防御  [in Japanese] Host Defense against Oxidatively Damaged Cells  [in Japanese]

The oxidative stress on cells causes modification of various cellular components such as proteins, lipids and nucleic acids, and leads to the damage of cell structure and function. The host defense system recognizes oxidatively damaged erythrocytes in two ways. One includes autoantibody to sialylated poly-N-acetyllactosaminyl carbohydrate chains of band 3 glycoprotein. The antibody binds to the oxidized cells by recognizing the carbohydrate chains on the cells. The antibody binding should lead to phagocytic removal of the oxidized cells from the circulation by macrophages. The other mechanism is direct recognition of the oxidized cells by macrophages through recognition of sialosaccharide chains of glycophorin A of the oxidized cells. These two mechanisms of recognition and removal of oxidatively damaged cells may be regarded as the secondary antioxidant defense at cellular level to maintain homeostasis of the body.