CAREER: Expanding the Toolbox of Encodable Fluorescent Probes to Image Macrophage Redox Dynamics

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With this award from the Chemistry of Life Processes Program in the Chemistry Division, Dr. Huiwang Ai and his research team at the University of California, Riverside are developing new methods for the detection of hydrogen sulfide and other redox-active molecules in living cells. Fluorescent proteins in nonnative topologies with nonnatural chromophore structures will be exploited as novel redox probes. These selective fluorescent probes will be utilized to uncover the mechanisms of redox response and regulation in macrophage immune cells. The project will result in a general strategy for probing redox-active small signaling molecules in subcellular locations and in space close to proteins of interest. It is widely accepted by the scientific community that cells use redox-active molecules to generate and relay signals. The misregulation of these processes is linked to a large number of diseases. Dr. Ai and his coworkers have discovered the means to selectively observe redox-active molecules in live cells. This project will be a necessary step toward a more comprehensive understanding of redox signaling and regulation. The project will also train graduate and undergraduate students for specialized expertise at the chemistry-biology interface. Middle and high school students from the local STEM school will be supported for research experiences. Curriculum enhancements and outreach activities will be carried out to further broaden the impacts of this project.