Physiological and pathological role of reactive oxygen species in the immune cells

Abstract

Production of reactive oxygen, chlorine, and nitrogen species is a pivotal and effective mechanism utilized by different immune cells to respond to invading pathogens. During the last decades the molecular pathways involved in the production of reactive species and their intersection with the cellular molecular sensors (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-oxidase, inflammasomes, Toll-like receptor) have been elucidated. Please check if edit to sentence starting "At the same" is okay. - >At the same time, it has also been recognized that excessive or chronic production of reactive species, as occurred in chronic inflammatory, degenerative, and autoimmune diseases, is detrimental to the immune system. This integrated view of both the physiological and pathological role of reactive species in maintaining the cellular redox balance is coming to light.