Oxidative stress is characterized by an imbalance between prooxidant and antioxidant species, leading to macromolecular damage and disruption of redox signaling and cellular control. It is a hallmark of various diseases including metabolic syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, inflammatory, and age-related diseases. Several mitochondrial defects have been considered to contribute to the development of oxidative stress and known as the major mediators of the aging process and subsequent age-associated diseases. Thus, mitochondrial-targeted antioxidants should prevent or slow down these processes and prolong longevity. This is the reason why antioxidant treatments are extensively studied and newer and newer compounds with such an effect appear. Astaxanthin, a xanthophyll carotenoid, is the most abundant carotenoid in marine organisms and is one of the most powerful natural compounds with remarkable antioxidant activity. Here, we summarize its antioxidant targets, effects, and benefits in diseases and with aging.

Triadin is a multiple proteins family, some isoforms being involved in muscle excitation-contraction coupling, and some having still unknown functions. To obtain clues on triadin functions, we engineered a triadin knock-out mouse line and characterized the physiological effect of triadin ablation on skeletal muscle function. These mice presented a reduced muscle strength, which seemed not to alter their survival and has been characterized in the present work. We first checked in these mice the expression level of the different proteins involved in calcium homeostasis and observed in fast muscles an increase in expression of dihydropyridine receptor, with a large reduction in calsequestrin expression. Electron microscopy analysis of KO muscles morphology demonstrated the presence of triads in abnormal orientation and a reduction in the sarcoplasmic reticulum terminal cisternae volume. Using calcium imaging on cultured myotubes, we observed a reduction in the total amount of calcium stored in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Physiological studies have been performed to evaluate the influence of triadin deletion on skeletal muscle function. Muscle strength has been measured both on the whole animal model, using hang test or electrical stimulation combined with NMR analysis and strength measurement, or on isolated muscle using electrical stimulation. All the results obtained demonstrate an important reduction in muscle strength, indicating that triadin plays an essential role in skeletal muscle function and in skeletal muscle structure. These results indicate that triadin alteration leads to the development of a myopathy, which could be studied using this new animal model.

The effects of the muscle relaxant dantrolene on steps of excitation-contraction coupling were studied on fast twitch muscles of rodents. To identify the site of action of the drug, single fibers for voltage-clamp measurements, heavy SR vesicles for calcium efflux studies and solubilized SR calcium release channels/RYRs for lipid bilayer studies were isolated. Using the double Vaseline-gap or the silicone-clamp technique, dantrolene was found to suppress the depolarization-induced elevation in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca²+]_i) by inhibiting the release of calcium from the SR. The suppression of [Ca²+]_i was dose-dependent, with no effect at or below 1 μM and a 53 ± 8% (mean ± SEM, n = 9, cut fibers) attenuation at 0 mV with 25 μM of extracellularly applied dantrolene. The drug was not found to be more effective if injected than if applied extracellularly. Calculating the SR calcium release revealed an equal suppression of the steady (53 ± 8%) and of the early peak component (46 ± 6%). The drug did not interfere with the activation of the voltage sensor in as much as the voltage dependence of both intramembrane charge movements and the L-type calcium currents (I_Ca) were left, essentially, unaltered. However, the inactivation of I_Ca was slowed fourfold, and the conductance was reduced from 200 ± 16 to 143 ± 8 SF⁻¹ (n = 10). Dantrolene was found to inhibit thymol-stimulated calcium efflux from heavy SR vesicles by 44 ± 10% (n = 3) at 12 μM. On the other hand, dantrolene failed to affect the isolated RYR incorporated into lipid bilayers. The channel displayed a constant open probability for as long as 30–50 min after the application of the drug. These data locate the binding site for dantrolene to be on the SR membrane, but be distinct from the purified RYR itself.

In cardiac muscle Ca ²⁺ -induced Ca ²⁺ release (CICR) from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) is initiated by Ca ²⁺ influx via L-type Ca ²⁺ channels. At present, the mechanisms underlying termination of SR Ca ²⁺ release, which are required to ensure stable excitation-contraction coupling cycles, are not precisely known. However, the same mechanism leading to refractoriness of SR Ca ²⁺ release could also be responsible for the termination of CICR. To examine the refractoriness of SR Ca ²⁺ release, we analyzed Na ⁺ -Ca ²⁺ exchange currents reflecting cytosolic Ca ²⁺ signals induced by UV-laser flash-photolysis of caged Ca ²⁺ . Pairs of UV flashes were applied at various intervals to examine the time course of recovery from CICR refractoriness. In cardiomyocytes isolated from guinea-pigs and mice, β-adrenergic stimulation with isoproterenol-accelerated recovery from refractoriness by ≈2-fold. Application of cyclopiazonic acid at moderate concentrations (<10 μmol/L) slowed down recovery from refractoriness in a dose-dependent manner. Compared with cells from wild-type littermates, those from phospholamban knockout (PLB-KO) mice exhibited almost 5-fold accelerated recovery from refractoriness. Our results suggest that SR Ca ²⁺ refilling mediated by the SR Ca ²⁺ -pump corresponds to the rate-limiting step for recovery from CICR refractoriness. Thus, the Ca ²⁺ sensitivity of CICR appears to be regulated by SR Ca ²⁺ content, possibly resulting from a change in the steady-state Ca ²⁺ sensitivity and in the gating kinetics of the SR Ca ²⁺ release channels (ryanodine receptors). During Ca ²⁺ release, the concomitant reduction in Ca ²⁺ sensitivity of the ryanodine receptors might also underlie Ca ²⁺ spark termination by deactivation.