SIMULATION OF FREE-RADICAL REACTIONS IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE - A NEW 2-COMPARTMENT KINETIC-MODEL OF INTRACELLULAR LIPID-PEROXIDATION

To explore mechanisms of free radical reactions leading to intrecellular lipid peroxidation in living systems, we developed a computational model of up to 109 simultaneous enzymatic and free radical reactions though to be involved in the initiation, propagation, and termination of membrane lipid peroxidation. Rate constants for the various reactions were obtained from the published literature. The simulation model included a lipid membrane compartment and an aqueous cytosolic compartment, between which various chemical species were partitioned. Lipid peroxidation was initiated by the iron-catalyzed, superoxide-driven Fenton reaction. A "C" language computer program implemented numerical solution of the steady-state rate equations for concentrations of nine relevant free radicals. The rate equations were integrated by a modified Euler technique to describe the evolution with time of simulated concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, ferric and ferrous iron, unsaturated lipid, lipid hydroperoxides, superoxide anion, and biological antioxidants, including SOD and catalase. Initial results led to significant insights regarding mechanisms of membrane lipid peroxidation: 1. 1. segregation and concentration of lipids within membrane compartments promotes chain propagation; 2. 2. in the absence of antioxidants computed concentrations of lipid hydroperoxides increase linearly about 40 μM/min during axidative stress; 3. 3. lipid peroxidation is critically dependent upon oxygen concentration and the modeled dependence is similar to the experimental function; 4. 4. lipid peroxidation is rapidly quenched by the presence of Vitamin E-like antioxidants, SOD, and catalase; 5. 5. only small (1 to 50 μM) amounts of "free" iron are required for initiation of lipid peroxidation; 6. 6. substantial lipid peroxidation occures only when cellular defense mechanisms have been weakened or overcome by prolonged oxidative stress, hence understanding of the balance between free radical generation and antioxidant defense systems is critical to the understanding and control of free radical reactions in biology and medicine. © 1990.