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Free Radicals, Types, Sources and
Damaging Reactions
Submitted by Dr. Tamer Fouad, M.D.
Production of free radicals in cells
With the exception of the unusual
circumstances such as ionising radiation, ultraviolet light & other forms of
high energy exposure, free radicals are produced, in cells, in general by
electron transfer reactions, which can be enzymatically mediated or
nonenzymatically mediated. The production of free radicals in cells can happen
both accidentally or deliberately. An example of deliberate reactions is the
superoxide generated by activated phagocytes and in catalytic reactions e.g.
Ribonucleotide reductase (Stubbe J, 1990
and Reichard P, Ehrenberg A, 1983). An example of accidental generation of
free radicals would be the leakage of superoxide, hydrogen peroxide & other
ROS at the interface of the bacterium & the activated phagocyte (Babior
BM, 1978). However the major source of free radicals under normal
circumstances is the electron leakage that happens from electron transport
chains, such as those in the mitochondria & endoplasmic reticulum, to
molecular oxygen generating superoxide.
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