A novel fluorescent sensor protein for visualization of redox states in the cytoplasm and in peroxisomes

Reactive oxygen species are generated within peroxisomes during peroxisomal metabolism. However, due to technological difficulties, the intraperoxisomal redox state remain elusive, and the effect of peroxisome deficiency on the intracellular redox state is controversial. A newly developed, genetically encoded fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) probe, Redoxfluor, senses the physiological redox state via its internal disulfide bonds, resulting in a change in the conformation of the protein leading to a FRET response. We made use of Redoxfluor to measure the redox states at the subcellular level in yeast and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. In wild-type peroxisomes harboring an intact fatty acid beta-oxidation system, the redox state within the peroxisomes was more reductive than that in the cytosol, despite the fact that reactive oxygen species were generated within the peroxisomes. Interestingly, we observed that the redox state of the cytosol of cell mutants for peroxisome assembly, regarded as models for a neurological metabolic disorder, was more reductive than that of the wild-type cells in yeast and CHO cells. Furthermore, Redoxfluor was utilized to develop an efficient system for the screening of drugs that moderate the abnormal cytosolic redox state in the mutant CHO cell lines for peroxisome assembly without affecting the redox state of normal cells.