Tools to explore how cysteine oxidation changes cell proteins
Official title: Chemical Tools for Probing Cysteine Sulfenation and Sulfination Redox Biology
Funded at Florida Atlantic University · NIH-11228789 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Creating chemical methods to find and map changes in a protein building block called cysteine in cancer cells so scientists can better understand redox-related disease.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Florida Atlantic University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boca Raton, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2012 |
| Project end | November 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $312,625 |
| NIH project number | 5R01GM102187-13 |
| Project ID | NIH-11228789 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This project does not enroll patients directly, but people with cancer (including blood cancers) could be relevant for future related sample-donation studies or clinical follow-up work.
✕Less likely to help
Patients seeking immediate clinical treatment or those without disorders linked to cysteine redox biology are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this laboratory-focused project.
What this research studies
From a patient perspective, the researchers are developing new chemical probes and small molecules that tag oxidized forms of cysteine to see where and when these changes happen inside cells. They will genetically insert oxidized cysteine into proteins to watch how those changes alter protein function and cell behavior. The team will use cancer cell lines, proteomics measurements, and computational analysis to map specific modified sites across thousands of proteins. They will also screen libraries of small fragments to find molecules that bind or react with those oxidized cysteines as possible starting points for drugs.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal new drug targets and pathways related to oxidative changes in cancer and other diseases, guiding future treatments.
How similar studies have gone: Related chemoproteomic and organosulfur chemistry methods from the same group and others have produced promising basic discoveries, though direct clinical therapies have not yet resulted.
Where this research is happening
-
Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Carroll, Kate Suzanne — Florida Atlantic University
- Study coordinator: Carroll, Kate Suzanne
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.