# Chemical Probes for Studying Formaldehyde Biology

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 2020 · $323,269

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Formaldehyde (FA) is a ubiquitous small-molecule that plays a diverse array of important
roles in human health and disease. As the simplest aldehyde and reactive carbonyl
species, FA is a major environmental toxin that is classified as a carcinogen and
exposure is also connected to a variety of other serious diseases ranging from
neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, and chronic liver and heart disorders. At the
same time, the body produces this reactive carbonyl species during normal physiology,
primarily through enzymatic demethylation events as well as through the one-carbon
cycle. We are developing and applying new chemical reagents for selective imaging and
proteomics of FA in living systems to identify its molecular sources and targets, with the
long-term goal of understanding how and in what context this reactive small molecule
contributes to normal physiology and disease. This application will focus on creating new
technologies that will enable highly selective molecular imaging of FA in cellular models
to detect sources of FA generation, with accompanying chemoproteomics methods to
identify targets of FA in genetic and cancer models where FA metabolism is
compromised. Specific aims include developing new fluorescent FA probes with a
variety of available colors and ratiometric detection, unbiased reactivity-based protein
profiling (RBPP) methods to identify cysteine- and lysine-derived targets of FA in whole
proteomes, and combining these complementary methods for studying sources and
targets of FA biology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9938595
- **Project number:** 5R01ES028096-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **Principal Investigator:** Christopher J. Chang
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $323,269
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9938595

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9938595, Chemical Probes for Studying Formaldehyde Biology (5R01ES028096-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9938595. Licensed CC0.

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