Mechanisms by which carbon dioxide (CO2) modulates cellular function and dysfunction

• Grant number: 25/02376-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: October 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry
• Principal Investigator: Ohara Augusto
• Grantee: Shahid Aziz
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07937-8 - Redoxome - Redox Processes in Biomedicine, AP.CEPID

Abstract

The general objective of our group in recent years has been to contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms by which CO2 modulates cellular physiology and pathology. The topic is scientifically relevant as several clinical situations lead to increased levels of CO2, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis and neuromuscular diseases. The topic is also timely due to climate change because CO2 is considered a modern environmental stressor by some authors. The mechanisms involved in the biological actions of CO2 are still poorly studied and understood. Initially, this project proposed to establish robust methods to detect peroxymonocarbonate in cells and perform global proteomic analysis of cells exposed to different CO2/HCO3¿ levels. Here we will contextualize the project, summarize the results obtained so far and based on them, propose the next steps.