There is increasing acceptance that specific reactive oxygen species -a special group of electrophiles -, such as H 2 O 2 , hydroperoxides or NO etc., have essential functions in biological processes. One of such processes is the oxidative folding of secretory and membrane proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER).Unfolded newly synthesized proteins enter the ER to be oxidized and undergo thiol-disulfide exchange catalyzed by protein disulfide isomerases (PDIs) [1]. Canonical PDI contains a disulfide bridge in one of its two thioredoxin domains. PDI accepts electrons from the reduced (thiol form) substrate protein resulting in the formation of a disulfide in the client protein and the reduction of the disulfide in PDI. To continue the process, PDI has to be re-oxidized. This is achieved by the flavoproteins Ero1 (ER oxidoreductin-1α and β) which transfer the two electrons from PDI via FAD to oxygen, thus producing H 2 O 2 . Yet, for achieving correct folding reduced PDI homologs are required for reshuffling non-native disulfides. Dysfunction of this process leads to ER stress and elicits the endoplasmic reticulum associated protein degradation (ERAD) response.Whether H 2 O 2 produced by Ero1 is just a toxic by-product of protein folding or is physiologically required is currently a matter of debate. This led to the recent discovery that the ER is endowed with two resident glutathione peroxidase (GPx) homologs, namely GPx7 and GPx8, which exceptionally in vertebrates contain a catalytic cysteine in place of the usual selenocysteine. These ER GPxs have been proposed to cooperate with peroxiredoxin-4 (Prx4) in optimizing folding and regulating the ER redox environment. In this special issue, renowned scientists address the major question what happens with Ero1-derived H 2 O 2 , review the mechanistic aspects of the folding process, highlight its complexity and provide an updated state-of-the art [3,[5][6][7][8][10][11][12]. One original research paper which gives clues to the mechanism underlying the oxygen access in the oxidase ero1, is also included [2].Ester Zito [3] introduces Ero1 as disulfide oxidase and H 2 O 2 producer and highlights its role as a double-edged sword. H 2 O 2 is needed for correct folding, but errors like misfolding of proteins trigger the ER stress response leading to excess H 2 O 2 production and may have detrimental effects. However, the Ero1 relevance is questioned since reverse genetics suggests that Ero1 function is essential for disulfide bond formation in yeasts only. In fact, mice highly compromised in the activity of Ero1α and Ero1β are viable and show only a slight delay in oxidative folding, thus suggesting an unknown back-up for Ero1 in higher eukaryotes. Prx4 has been implicated to compensate for Ero1 deficiency. Mice with mutations in both Ero1s and Prx4 are recovered with a lower Mendelian frequency and show defects in extracellular matrix formation associated with ascorbic acid deficiency [4]. Thus, Ero1α, Ero1β, Free Radical Biology and Medicine http://dx.