Investigating the effect of electric fields on cellular metabolism.

代谢溢流是一种看似不经济的过程，其中代谢从呼吸的专用转变为发酵或呼吸发酵，即使在氧气存在的情况下。代谢溢出在自然界中普遍存在，存在于微生物、哺乳动物和植物细胞中，并且被证明支持更高水平的过程，如细胞生长、休眠和分化，以及多细胞通信和相互作用。尽管这一基本作用，导致代谢溢出的分子机制及其与细胞生物物理参数的关系，如膜电位和细胞氧化还原状态仍然未知。本项目将使用代谢，电生理和荧光显微镜技术的组合来研究溢流代谢，旨在更好地了解代谢溢流，细胞氧化还原状态和膜电位之间的关系。研究将使用单细胞电生理测量，如酵母和哺乳动物细胞沿着的pH值、膜电位和氧化还原状态，以及其他细胞测量，如ATP、NADH和代谢物测量。这些信息不仅对理解代谢溢出的分子机制至关重要，而且可能为通过外部电场刺激对其进行操纵铺平道路。

Metabolic overflow is the seemingly uneconomical process where metabolism shifts from the exclusive use of respiration to fermentation or respire-fermentation even in the presence of oxygen. Metabolic overflow is ubiquitous in nature, found in both microbial, mammalian and plant cells, and is shown to underpin higher-level processes such as cell growth, dormancy, and differentiation, and multi-cell communication and interactions. Despite this fundamental role, the molecular mechanisms leading to metabolic overflow and its relation to cellular biophysical parameters, such as membrane potential and cellular redox state remains unknown. This project will study overflow metabolism using a combination of metabolic, electrophysiological, and fluorescent microscopy techniques, with the aim to better understand the relation between metabolic overflow, cellular redox state, and membrane potential. Investigations will use single-cell electrophysiological measurements such as pH, membrane potential and redox state in yeast and mammalian cells along with other cellular measurements such as ATP, NADH and metabolite measurements. This information will not only be vital to understand the molecular mechanisms of metabolic overflow, but will possibly pave the way to its manipulation through external electrical field stimulation.