Hydrogen sulfide: the third gasotransmitter in biology and medicine.

The last two decades have seen one of the greatest excitements and discoveries in science, gasotransmitters in biology and medicine. Leading the trend by nitric oxide and extending the trudge by carbon monoxide, here comes hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) who builds up the momentum as the third gasotransmitter. Being produced by different cells and tissues in our body, H(2)S, alone or together with the other two gasotransmitters, regulates an array of physiological processes and plays important roles in the pathogenesis of various diseases from neurodegenerative diseases to diabetes or heart failure, to name a few. As a journal dedicated to serve the emergent and challenging field of H(2)S biology and medicine, Antioxidant and Redox Signaling assembles the most recent discoveries and most provoking ideas from leading scientists in H(2)S fields, which were communicated in the First International Conference of H(2)S in Biology and Medicine, and brings them to our readers in two Forum Issues. Through intellectual exchange and intelligent challenge with an open-mind approach, we can reasonably expect that sooner rather than later the exploration of metabolism and function of H(2)S will provide solutions for many of the biological mysteries of life and pave way for the arrival of many more gasotransmitters.