SeHed,a novel gene expression system with stress-evoked hydrogen peroxide elimination property and anti-aging effect

Dear Editor,The moderate level of reactive oxygen species(ROS)contributes to cellular functions such as proliferation,differentiation,and infection resistance,but the excessive level of ROS causes oxidative damage which underlies the basic mechanism for aging and geriatric diseases.1 Therefore,precisely managing cellular ROS levels,meaning to keep redox homeostasis properly,stands as an aim for health and longevity.Actually,this aim is challenging,as it asks not only to restrain excessive ROS accumulation at the right time and right place but also to guarantee proper ROS levels for fitting physiological requirements.Traditional ways for eliminating ROS put more attention on the efficiency and identified a variety of drugs and enzymes with antioxidant properties,known as enzymatic and non-enzymatic ROS scavengers,respectively.However,how to accurately manage the integrative effect of ROS scavengers in vivo remains a problem.Actually,the effectiveness of non-enzymatic antioxidants in vivo is controversial,explained mostly by the uncertainty to reach a given organ with the appropriate concentration or to work there persistently.2 As to enzymatic ROS scavengers,although their overexpression in a given place can be achieved,this mode is often unwieldy or harmful to intrinsic physiologic functions in cases.3 For this reason,we attempt to develop new ways for in vivo antioxidation,for establishing a high-quality balance between efficiency and safety.As the consequence,we innovated a gene expression system that can limit the excessive ROS accumulation but keep the physiological level of ROS.