Redox Pioneer: Professor Helmut Sies

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Dean P Jones, Emory University; Rafael Radi, Universidad de la República
• Language: English
• Date: 2014-12-20
• Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2014, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ars.2014.6037
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Antioxidants and Redox Signaling
• ISSN: 1523-0864
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 18
• Start Page: 2459
• End Page: 2468
• Grant/Funding Information: I am grateful to the National Foundation for Cancer Research, founded by Franklin Salisbury to support cancer research by Albert Szent-György, for research funding since 1984, and to Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for funding since the 1970s.
• Keywords: Endocrinology & Metabolism; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Science & Technology; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Immunology; Health Sciences, General

Abstract

Dr. Helmut Sies (MD, 1967) is recognized as a Redox Pioneer, because he authored five articles on oxidative stress, lycopene, and glutathione, each of which has been cited more than 1000 times, and coauthored an article on hydroperoxide metabolism in mammalian systems cited more than 5000 times (Google Scholar). He obtained preclinical education at the University of Tübingen and the University of Munich, clinical training at Munich (MD, 1967) and Paris, and completed Habilitation at Munich (Physiological Chemistry and Physical Biochemistry, 1972). In early research, he first identified hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as a normal aerobic metabolite and devised a method to quantify H2O2 concentration and turnover in cells. He quantified central redox systems for energy metabolism (NAD, NADP systems) and antioxidant GSH in subcellular compartments. He first described ebselen, a selenoorganic compound, as a glutathione peroxidase mimic. He contributed a fundamental discovery to the physiology of GSH, selenium nutrition, singlet oxygen biochemistry, and health benefits of dietary lycopene and cocoa flavonoids. He has published more than 600 articles, 134 of which are cited at least 100 times, and edited 28 books. His h-index is 115. During the last quarter of the 20th century and well into the 21st, he has served as a scout, trailblazer, and pioneer in redox biology. His formulation of the concept of oxidative stress stimulated and guided research in oxidants and antioxidants; his pioneering research on carotenoids and flavonoids informed nutritional strategies against cancer, cardiovascular disease, and aging; and his quantitative approach to redox biochemistry provides a foundation for modern redox systems biology. Helmut Sies is a true Redox Pioneer.