Some of the biochemical processes in our body produce singlet oxygen. This can react with the other substances in body.
As the name implies, singlet oxygen is a form of oxygen that is high in energy. Within the human body, singlet oxygen is classified under the family of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and may be deemed harmful to our biology. Such harmful effects may be mediated by alteration of our genetic material to the promotion of cytotoxicity, all of which may promote various pathogenesis. Despite this, there is no clear cut-off point or a range established to determine the maximum amount of singlet oxygen required for diseases to start occurring, as disease pathogenesis are often multifactorial. Given the known harmful nature, measures to reduce presence of singlet oxygen in our body should always be taken, such as through introduction of antioxidants to scavenge the harmful molecule.
In biological research settings, singlet oxygen can be a tricky molecule to analyze as it is relatively unstable, thus studies throughout the years have attempted to improve ways of measuring the molecule.
Finally, within cancer settings, singlet oxygen photodynamic therapy has been observed to ultimately induce photo-initiated cell death and apoptosis through ROS-mediated pathways.
Here are some papers for further reading which might be helpful:
Article Biological significance of singlet oxygen
Article Singlet Oxygen Detection in Biological Systems: Uses and Limitations
Article Activatable Singlet Oxygen Generation from Lipid Hydroperoxi...
Article Singlet oxygen treatment of tumor cells triggers extracellul...
Thanks Andrew!..But PDTs are not that efficient in solid tumors(which are under hypoxia), since they use triplet Oxygen to produce singlet oxygen.
singlet oxygen which is a form of oxygen, is high in energy and can react within our body with organic material . it is classified as one of the species of reactive oxygen family (ROS) which produce several harmful effects to our body, such as DNA and protein destruction and promote cytotoxicity . until now there is no clear cut-off point or a range established to determine the maximum amount of singlet oxygen required for diseases to start occurring, as disease pathogenesis are often multifactorial.
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