A signal in biology is any kind of coded message sent from one place in
an organism to another place. Biology is rich in claims that reactive
oxygen and nitrogen species transmit signals. Therefore, we define a
“redox signal as an increase/decrease in the level of reactive
species”. First, as in most biology disciplines, to analyze a redox
signal you need first to deconstruct it. The essential components that
constitute a redox signal and should be characterized are: (i) the
reactivity of the specific reactive species, (ii) the magnitude of
change, (iii) the temporal pattern of change, and (iv) the antioxidant
condition. Second, to be able to translate the physiological fate of a
redox signal you need to apply novel and bioplausible methodological
strategies. Important considerations that should be taken into account
when designing an experiment is to (i) assure that redox and
physiological measurements are at the same or similar level of
biological organization and (ii) focus on molecules that are at the
highest level of the redox hierarchy. Third, to reconstruct the redox
signal and make sense of the chaotic nature of redox processes, it is
essential to apply mathematical and computational modeling. The aim of
the present study was to collectively present, for the first time, those
elements that essentially affect the redox signal as well as to
emphasize that the deconstructing, decoding and reconstructing of a
redox signal should be acknowledged as central to design better studies
and to advance our understanding on its physiological effects