Professor Kasey Clear just published his second research article from his work here at IU South Bend. This research is a collaboration between IU South Bend, Rice University and several medical schools - one of which is the IU Medical School (in South Bend) where the lead author, Kenneth Olson, teaches and researches. The reaction shown above shows a naphthoquinone being reduced by hydrogen sulfide, or, from another point of view, shows a naphthoquinone oxidizing hydrogen sulfide. Naphthoquinones can affect the body in at least two notable ways through their redox chemistry: (1) They can bind to proteins by reacting with the thiol groups of cysteine residues on the proteins; this change in protein structure leads to a change in protein function. (2) They generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) like hydrogen peroxide which are strong oxidants. The article was published as "open access" so anyone can view it free of charge here.
