UIUC interdisciplinary team reports the design of chimeric polypeptides leading to development of noninvasive biosensors for potential application in biomedical research. Reduction/oxidation (redox) systems research is reaching a stage where domains that traditionally belonged to the physical sciences, chemistry, and molecular biology are coming together to offer new synergistic opportunities for understanding and manipulating basic cellular processes that underlie complex biomedical problems (e.g., tumorigenesis). Parallel with this advance is the emerging recognition that the intracellular redox environment exerts a profound influence on the normal cellular processes of DNA synthesis, enzyme activation, selective gene expression, cell cycle progression, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. However, this is a difficult area of study and molecular mechanisms mediating redox sensitivity are poorly defined.
