To further study the intracellular redox environment, two novel technologies were developed: first, a conductive substrate cell culture system to control the intracellular redox environment via electrical potentials; and second, a FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer)-based redox biosensor to monitor changes in the intracellular redox environment. Observations of altered intracellular redox status of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells treated with electrical potentials indicate that electrical potentials may be a useful technology for controlling the intracellular redox environment. A rationally-designed FRET biosensor expressed in CHO cells was used for reporting changes related to cell growth. These studies advance the understanding of how the intracellular redox environment controls cell fate and provide new methodologies to study redox regulation of cell fate.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign