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🧬 Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Balance

Explore how cells balance reactive oxygen species production against enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defenses, and what happens when the scale tips toward damage, inflammation, and disease.

Medical Technology & Imaging Physics3DModerate60 FPS

This simulation demonstrates the dynamic balance between reactive oxygen species production and the cell's layered antioxidant defenses, including enzymatic relays (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase), non-enzymatic scavengers (glutathione, vitamin C, vitamin E), and the adaptive Nrf2/Keap1 gene-activation response, showing how the system shifts from healthy homeostasis into oxidative stress and molecular damage.

🔬 What It Demonstrates

🎮 How to Use

Adjust the sliders controlling ROS sources, such as mitochondrial leakage, immune respiratory burst activity, and environmental exposure, alongside sliders for antioxidant enzyme levels and small-molecule antioxidant availability. Watch how the Nrf2 pathway activates as ROS rises, and observe the point at which lipid, protein, and DNA damage indicators begin climbing once antioxidant capacity is exceeded. Try lowering micronutrient cofactor availability to see how it weakens enzymatic defenses even when enzyme levels appear normal.

💡 Did You Know?

Catalase is one of the fastest enzymes known in nature, capable of breaking down millions of hydrogen peroxide molecules every second, and a single mitochondrion can leak a meaningful stream of superoxide radicals even during normal, healthy respiration.

⚙ Under the hood

Explore the cellular balance between reactive oxygen species and antioxidant defenses, and the Nrf2 pathway that keeps oxidative stress in check.

oxidative-stressantioxidantsreactive-oxygen-speciesnrf2cell-biologyaginginflammationredox-homeostasis

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install