09.15.2009: Mellisa Kemp - Redox Regulation of Signaling Proteins

ROS - reactive oxygen species

• Lots of different cell types produce ROS
  • Changes binding affinity of proteins
• Is hydrogen-peroxide a signaling mechanism?
• Use cue->signal->response method (treat cell as a black box).
• SSG can inhibit phosphorolation
• Thiol modifications are controlled by the redox environment.
• By understanding physiological case we can understand pathological cases.
• Creation of ODE model, fit parameters to measurements, predicted chemical levels and provided insight to which pathways were most important.
• Can ROS be used to change the "gain" of pathways in a cell?
• ROS receptors are primarily membrane bound.
• Microfluidics are used for cell fixing, lysing, etc.
  • Utilization of cell traps using microfluidics. Can this be used in MEAs?
• Real-time imaging of ROS pathways is accomplished using genetically inserted fluorophors.
• Thyrodoxin appears to be distributed primarily in the ER.

Questions

• Thyrodoxin, does it move from the lysosomes to the endosomes? Unknown.
• Thyrodoxin, where is it folded? Unknown, thyrodoxin is a small protein and doesn't need much folding.