# Chemical Approaches to Visualize and Quantify Cellular Physiology

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 2024 · $510,322

## Abstract

The importance of membrane potentials is most widely recognized in electrically excitable cells in organs
like the brain, the heart, and muscles. However, all cells maintain a membrane potential. Small
differences in these electric fields have been linked to enhanced cell signaling, differentiation,
development, control of circadian rhythms, modulation of ultradian rhythms, regulation of cell volume,
proliferation, cell cycle progression, metastatic potential of cancerous tumors, and more. Across all cell
types, up to 50% of the cellular ATP budget is spent on setting the membrane potential via the action of
the ATP-powered Na+/K+ exchanger.
Despite the massively expensive energy expenditure put out by cells to maintain this electrical potential,
a clear picture of the details of how bioelectrical signals and potentials shape physiology outside of the
brain remains elusive. The lack of readily implemented methods to reliably measure membrane
potential values has limited progress in the field of understanding how bioelectrical signals shape
cellular physiology outside of the context of the brain.
A vast ecosystem of electrical signals outside of the brain exists between and within cells. This
interconnected network has been previously inaccessible. Electrodes fall short when measuring multiple
cells or accessing intracellular membranes. Existing dyes are prone to serious artifacts that confound a
straightforward interpretation. We are developing optical methods to address these existing
shortcomings and visualize and quantify bioelectrical signals and potentials in cells and in organelles
outside of the context of the brain.
We combine approaches and methodologies from synthetic chemistry, physiology, and cell biology to
make contributions to understand the chemistry of fluorophores for live cell imaging, uncover new vistas
of cellular physiology across cells and within cells, and take translational approaches with implications
for understanding drug-ion channel interactions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10842833
- **Project number:** 1R35GM153237-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **Principal Investigator:** Evan Walker Miller
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $510,322
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-04-01 → 2029-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10842833

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10842833, Chemical Approaches to Visualize and Quantify Cellular Physiology (1R35GM153237-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10842833. Licensed CC0.

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