The University of Kansas Center for Research Inc. was awarded a $661,537 Project Grant under the National Institute on Aging's Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to develop analytical tools for studying light-initiated zinc signaling in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The project aims to determine how extracellular zinc transients and alterations in intracellular zinc levels affect dopamine release and uptake, as well as reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, in animal models of these diseases. The researchers will use fast-scan cyclic voltammetry combined with light-induced release of zinc from custom-designed cages to measure these zinc-mediated effects on neurotransmitter signaling with sub-second and micrometer-scale precision. The project will also correlate specific protein modifications, such as oxidation of histidine residues involved in zinc binding, with the observed functional changes in dopamine regulation. As a sub-award under this grant, Worcester Polytechnic Institute will assist in creating new tools to measure extracellular zinc transients and develop photocages to modulate intracellular zinc signaling.