Membrane lipid peroxidation processes yield reactive aldehydes that may react with copper,zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn SOD), one of the key antioxidant enzymes against oxidative stress. We investigated this possibility and found that exposing Cu,Zn SOD to malondialdehyde (MDA) or 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE) caused the loss of dismutase activity, cross-linking of peptides, and an increase in protein oxidation, reflected by the increased level of carbonyl groups. When Cu,Zn SOD that had been exposed to MDA or HNE was subsequently analyzed by amino acid analysis, histidine content was found to be significantly lost. Both MDA-and HNE-treated Cu,Zn SOD were resistant to proteolysis, which may imply that damaged proteins exist in vivo for a longer period of time than the native enzyme. The lipid peroxidation-mediated damage to Cu,Zn SOD may result in the perturbation of cellular antioxidant defense mechanisms, and subsequently lead to a pro-oxidant condition.