10-023 - Organelle bioelectrodes and methods of making

Researchers

Shelley D. Minteer and Abdul Waheed.

Summary

This invention describes a method of monitoring the metabolic state of an organelle in the presence of a potential organelle modulating agent which comprises the steps of providing at least a first organelle-modified bioelectrode that is electrically coupled to a second electrode of opposite polarity in a circuit.  The bioelectrode is contacted with an aqueous carrier that can contain a further fluid, gas, solid, or mixture thereof and contains an electrolyte, an effective amount of a potential organelle modulating agent and an effective amount of an organelle fuel as organelle substrate. The fuel-containing (substrate-containing) carrier is reacted at the bioelectrode to form an ionic product from the fuel, which product is released into the aqueous carrier-containing electrolyte to thereby provide a current at the second electrode when the circuit is closed. A metabolic flux data set is obtained during the reaction and compared to a control metabolic flux data set obtained under the same conditions in the absence of the organelle modulating agent, thereby determining the metabolic state of the organelle in the presence of the potential organelle modulating agent. This technique provides for the development of high throughput mitochondrial drug candidate screening, as well as other applications where the quantitative study of mitochondrial activity is of interest.

Intellectual Property Status

• U.S. and foreign patents pending