Frontiers of redox processes

São Paulo School of Advanced Sciences brings together 440 scientists and students from Brazil and abroad to debate the latest advances in knowledge in the area of redox processes in biomedicine.

By Fábio de Castro

Agência FAPESP – More than 440 researchers, faculty and students participated in the São Paulo School of Advanced Sciences on Redox Processes in Biomedicine held August 13-21, 2011, to debate and learn about studies that will soon expand the frontiers of knowledge in cellular redox processes in biomedicine.

Cellular redox processes involve formation of free radicals and other species that react to oxygen, whose role is fundamental for cellular signaling. The dependent mechanisms of redox processes are involved in several aspects of the normal physiology of cells and the physiopathology of innumerous illnesses. The advance of knowledge in the area could lead to targets for conventional, genetic and cellular therapies.

The FAPESP-sponsored event was held in São Pedro (SP), under the auspices of the São Paulo School of Advanced Sciences (ESPCA). Organized by the National Institute of Science and Technology of Redox Processes in Biomedicine, the school was held concurrently with the 7th Congress of the South American Group of Society of Free Radicals, Biology and Medicine (SFRBM).
     
The main characteristic of the event consisted of not focusing solely on advanced revision of the basic aspects of redox biology, said ESPCA’s coordinator, Francisco Laurindo, professor of Heart Institute (Incor) at Universidade de São Paulo’s Medical School (FM-USP).

“Every seminar and discussion was focused on the latest knowledge about redox processes from a conceptual and analytical point of view. The participants shared research that will soon become groundbreaking articles in high impact international magazines,” Laurindo said in an interview with Agência FAPESP.

Out of a total 440 participants, roughly 50 were renowned names in the international science world. Approximately 260 researchers as well as scientific initiation and post graduate students participated in all activities. Another portion of participants only attended the SFRBM conference.

“We had 237 participants from Brazil, 43 from Argentina, 43 from Uruguay, 20 from the United States, 6 from Chile, 6 from Peru and others from Mexico, New Zealand, Canada, South Korea, Hungary, Australia, Cuba, Denmark, France, Israel, Japan, Morocco, Poland and Sweden. In total, there were 36 seminars and 284 posters on display,” said Laurindo.

The event was attended by 280 women and 160 men. Some 90 full scholarships were granted to attend the school, 43 to people from Brazil and 50 from abroad. “Thirty of these came from South America. One of the interesting aspects of the redox area is that we have very good groups on the continent and that’s why we had a great turnout from our colleagues from here,” he affirmed. According to Laurindo, the redox processes area is well consolidated in Brazil and is the fourth most important area in terms of citations in the country.

“It is an area with a strong tradition among other South American countries, such as Uruguay and Argentina. That is why we have many collaborations and this helps to increase the affluence of participants for ESPCA,” he said.

According to the professor, the students had intense involvement with the school. They responded to an evaluation questionnaire which included criteria such as topic, clarity of presentations, event location, interaction with colleagues and professors, and the possibility to participate in workshops.

“The responses ranged from 1 to 5 – the lower the number the better the evaluation.  On average, students classified the school with grades between 1.8 and 2. I believe that they recognized the high quality of the event,” he said.

The presentations were focused on the main current problems in the redox processing area. One of them is the question of how to quantify oxy-reduction processes in biological systems. “Our major focus was on these aspects and for this reason we brought in scientists that are working with construction of new intracellular sensors – either based on hydrogen peroxide or carbon nanotubes,” explains Laurindo.

Oxidative stress   

According to the event coordinator, another major topic was the debate on how to integrate oxy-reduction processes into new proteomic, metabolomic and lipidomic disciplines. “We still have a large concentration of studies on thiol-proteins, many of which described recently by several speakers that participated in the school,” he said.

During the conference, participants engaged in lengthy debates about aspects like rigorous and precise detection of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, understanding that, for example, peroxides can exert specific effects on cell signaling.

One of the highlights of the conference was the closing seminar, presented by Bruce Freeman of Pittsburg University, who spoke about the prospects for developing new drugs in redox pathobiology.

“Professor Freeman presented future directions about how these processes could impact the discovery of new drugs,” commented Laurindo.