Thiyl radicals--their generation and further reactions.

Amongst the functions of glutathione (GSH) is the protection of cells against reactive electrophilic species. Many xenobiotics can generate reactive substrate-derived radicals during metabolism (1) and other free radicals such as superoxide anion radical (\(O\overset{{\underset{\scriptscriptstyle\centerdot}{-}}}{\mathop{2}}\,\)) can be generated during normal cellular function (2). Thus the interaction of GSH with free radicals is of both physiological and toxicological significance. The reduction of free radicals by GSH, however, generates another radical--the glutathionyl radical (GS·), the fate of which in biological systems is poorly understood.