Electrochemical modeling of biological processes

There are many biological processes that involve reduction or oxidation (redox) steps, including enzymatic reactions, photosynthesis reactions, free radical oxidative reactions, and metabolite processes. While it is possible in some circumstances to use electrochemical methods to monitor individual chemicals that exist within biological systems (such as dopamine (DA), which is present as a neurotransmitter in a wide variety of animals), it is very difficult to study complex redox reaction mechanisms that occur in vivo, due to the many interfering species that are also present. However, electrochemical methods are extremely useful in studying the exact pathways that the redox processes occur by, usually by isolating the individual chemicals and performing detailed experiments under carefully controlled laboratory conditions. Knowledge of the exact reaction mechanism, including the number of electrons involved and the order of electron transfer, can be critical in identifying intermediates that are also likely to exist in biological systems. In this chapter, the discussion focuses on relatively low-molecular-weight (<1000 g mol-1) biological molecules such as coenzymes, drug metabolites, and vitamins, rather than macromolecules such as proteins and DNA.