title: Expanding roles of superoxide dismutases in cell regulation and cancer.
abstract: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have important roles in normal physiology and diseases, particularly cancer. Under normal physiological conditions, they participate in redox reactions and serve as second messengers for regulatory functions. Owing to aberrant metabolism, cancer cells accumulate excessive ROS, thus requiring a robustly active antioxidant system to prevent cellular damage. Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are enzymes that catalyze the removal of superoxide free radicals. There are three distinct members of this metalloenzyme family in mammals: SOD1 (Cu/ZnSOD), SOD2 (MnSOD) and SOD3 (ecSOD). SODs are increasingly recognized for their regulatory functions in growth, metabolism and oxidative stress responses, which are also crucial for cancer development and survival. Growing evidence shows that SODs are also potentially useful anticancer drug targets. This review will focus on recent research of SODs in cellular regulation, with emphasis on their roles in cancer biology and therapy.
authors.affiliation: Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Department of Pharmacology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA.
authors.forename: Meixia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Che
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Ren
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Department of Pharmacology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA; State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Yun
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Department of Pharmacology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA; State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China. Electronic address: zhengst@cinj.rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: X F Steven
authors.initials: XFS
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase