NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1990 VOLUME 3, NUMBER 6 @Copyright 1990 by the American Chemical Society
Ed it orial “Forum”, a New Feature of the Journal In this issue, Chemical Research in Toxicology initiates a new feature called “Forum”. The purpose of the Forum is to highlight important issues in molecular toxicology in which controversy exists. Investigators on both sides of an issue are invited to contribute in hopes of crystallizing differences and identifying the bases for them. The first Forum is devoted to a discussion of the role of calcium in cell killing. The hypothesis that calcium is a mediator of cell death is an attractive one that may provide a common mechanism of action for a wide range of chemical toxins. Moreover, it may be related to physiological mechanisms of programmed cell death. The question of the involvement of calcium in cell killing has practical as well as theoretical importance. For example, understanding the mechanisms by which cells die may help in the design of special media with which to maintain the integrity of organs during storage and transportation for human transplants. The Forum begins with a review by Sten Orrenius and his colleagues of the biochemical mechanisms by which elevation of intracellular calcium kills cells. Several specific examples are given and molecular events are proposed. Don Reed then discusses the mechanisms by which calcium levels are regulated in cells and describes a link to oxidative damage and thiol status. He identifies controversial results and gaps in our knowledge. Finally, John Farber questions the generality of the involvement of calcium in cell killing and highlights differences in protocols that may account for the discrepancies in experimental results between laboratories. He then relates observations made with intact cells in vitro to the possible role of calcium as a mediator of cell death in vivo. The editors are very grateful to Drs. Orrenius, Reed, and Farber. We appreciate not only their willingness to disrupt their busy schedules to write these papers but also their willingness to participate in a critical discussion in a public forum. We are very pleased with the results of their efforts. It is the editors’ opinion that this Forum gives the readers a good feel for the state of the art regarding calcium and cell killing and some idea of important experiments that need to be done. A Forum will be published in Chemical Research in Toxicology on an annual basis. Next year’s will be on “The Role of Oxidative Damage in Metal Carcinogenicity”. Lawrence J. Marnett Editor
0893-228x/90/2703-0483$02.50/0 0 1990 American Chemical Society
