Sea urchin embryo a model for aging research: use of oxidant and antioxidants molecules.

Free radicals are common outcome of normal aerobic cellular metabolism, imbalanced defense mechanism of antioxidants overproduction or incorporation of free radicals from environment to living system leads to oxidative stress (OS). OS plays a relevant role in triggering apoptosis and consequently is linked to pathologies such as neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer, Parkinson, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis diseases) or others associated with aging. The use of antioxidants may play a pivotal role in preventing or slowing the progression of these diseases. In particular the use of natural molecules with antioxidant properties could be a suitable strategy for inhibiting the cell death cascade. Recently, sea urchin has been employed as a simple model system in aging and drug discovery research. This model system was, indeed, used to identify molecules and pathways involved in neurodegenerative processes [1-2]. Here we study the effect of oxidant (Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2), ?-amyloid, metformin) and antioxidant (ferulic acid, tocopherol, tyrosol) molecules related to neurodegenerative process on Paracentrotus lividus embryo. In particular, we investigated the effect of oxidants and antioxidants on morphology and biochemical mechanism.