Overview

All cells require disulfide reducing power to support homeostasis.

Disulfide reducing power:

The ability to reduce disulfide bonds into di-thiols and then to use re-oxidation of di-thiols into disulfides to drive reduction of other substrates

At its most basal level, this process allows cells to produce DNA precursors for DNA repair and replication: a fundamental requirement of all cells of all forms of life on earth.

In aerobic organisms, disulfide reducing power also fuels antioxidant systems.

Antioxidant systems:

Detoxify potentially harmful oxidants, such as H₂O₂ or free radicals.

Further, particularly in complex metazoan animals, disulfide reducing power underpins mechanisms of redox signaling that regulate many cellular and organismal processes. Research at the Redox Biology Laboratory (RBL) at the University of Veterinary Medicine studies these processes, from the basal biology and physiology of redox systems to antioxidant stress responses to redox signaling to redox-associated diseases, including cancer and inflammation. The RBL opened in 2021 and currently has two actively funded projects.