Physiology

Vale Roger Short – The Science Show – ABC News

After studying veterinary science at Bristol University, Roger completed a Masters in genetics at the University of Wisconsin as a Fulbright Scholar and then his PhD at Cambridge. He remained at Cambridge until 1972 when he was appointed Director of the Medical Research Council Unit of Reproductive Biology and honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh. In 1982 Roger moved to Australia to take up a personal Chair as Professor of Reproductive Biology at the Department of Physiology at Monash University. Roger's interest in the growing global impact of HIV/AIDS, saw him seconded to the World Health Organization (Geneva) in 1989. In 1995 Roger left Monash and joined the Department of Obstetrics at the University of Melbourne. In 2006 Roger was made an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Melbourne University, where he continued to teach and conduct research for many years.

Roger received many prizes and awards in recognition of this work throughout his career, including Honorary Doctorates of Science from Guelph (Canada), Edinburgh and Bristol. He was awarded scientific medals from the Zoological Society of London (1969) and the Society for Endocrinology (1970). Roger was made a Fellow of the Royal Society (1974), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1974) and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (1976). He also received honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (1991) and Foreign Membership of the Royal Society of Sciences of Uppsala (1993). Roger received the Marshall Medal of the Society for Reproduction and Fertility (UK) (1995) and the Carl G Hartman Award from the Society for the Study of Reproduction (USA) (1995). He also received a Centenary medal (2001) and was made a member of the Order of Australia (2004).

Roger spoke to Robyn Williams at length in a program replayed recently. Professor Roger Short, reproductive biologist The Science Show 15th May 2021

SpeakerRoger Short

PresenterRobyn Williams

ProducerDavid Fisher

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Vale Roger Short - The Science Show - ABC News

Physiology

Study identifies molecule that stimulates muscle-building – University of Illinois News

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. In a randomized control study of 10 healthy young men, researchers compared how consuming the single amino acid leucine or its two-molecule equivalent, dileucine, influenced muscle-building and breakdown. They found that dileucine boosts the metabolic processes that drive muscle growth 42% more than free leucine does.

They report their findings in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Leucine, isoleucine and valine all are branched-chain amino acids, famous among body builders and health enthusiasts for their purported muscle-enhancing benefits. Like other amino acids, they are the building blocks of proteins. But leucine also acts as a signaling molecule that triggers muscle-building pathways in cells, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign kinesiology and community health professor Nicholas Burd, who led the new research with kinesiology graduate student Kevin Paulussen.

Digestion breaks the chemical bonds between the amino acids that make up proteins, resulting in a stew of shorter molecules, including free amino acids and dipeptides. Previous studies have suggested that the small intestine absorbs dipeptides like dileucine more rapidly than their single-molecule counterparts, Burd said.

But few studies have examined whether dileucine in the diet makes it into the blood as a dipeptide or is first broken down into two leucine molecules, he said. And no studies have examined its effects on acute muscle-building and breakdown. Burds laboratory is one of a small number of research facilities set up to study muscle protein metabolism in human participants.

Graphic by Diana Yates

Edit embedded media in the Files Tab and re-insert as needed.

For the new study, participants came to the lab after a 12-hour fast and were infused with stable isotopes, chemical probes that allow researchers to track the process of muscle protein synthesis and breakdown. Then biopsies of muscle tissue were taken from the upper leg.

After that, we fed them either 2 grams of leucine or 2 grams of dileucine, Burd said. And we studied their muscle-remodeling response for three hours. This was a double-blind study, meaning that the data were coded to prevent participants and researchers from knowing who received leucine or dileucine in the initial phases of the study. Three more muscle biopsies were taken, at 30, 60 and 180 minutes after participants ingested the leucine or dileucine.

We found that leucine got into the blood more quickly when participants consumed dileucine than if they had just free leucine, Burd said. That means that some of that dileucine is getting hydrolyzed, or cut up, before it gets into the bloodstream. But we also saw that dileucine was getting into the bloodstream intact.

The next question was whether dileucine had any effect on muscle-building processes, he said.

So, we looked at pathways that signal the muscle-building process, including protein breakdown as part of the remodeling process. And we found no difference in protein breakdown between the leucine alone and the dileucine condition, Burd said. But on the protein synthesis side, we saw that dileucine turns up the muscle-building process more than leucine does.

Those who consumed dileucine had 42% more synthesis of new muscle proteins than those who ingested only leucine.

To put that in perspective, exercise alone can cause a 100-150% increase in the muscle-building response, Burd said.

The researchers also showed that animal-based proteins are the best source of dileucine in the diet. But Burd does not think people should start ingesting large amounts of animal protein or taking dileucine supplements to enhance their muscle metabolism. The study is only a first step toward understanding how the body uses dipeptides, and focusing on a single nutrient doesnt provide a perspective on how the overall diet and eating pattern impacts muscle growth, he said.

We dont yet know the mechanism by which dileucine works, Burd said. This is just a first attempt to understand how these types of peptides are playing a role in human physiology.

Ingenious Ingredients, L.P. supported this research.

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Study identifies molecule that stimulates muscle-building - University of Illinois News

Physiology

Rep. Katko Announces Over $600K in Federal Funding for SUNY Upstate Medical University to Support Research on Dementia – Congressman John Katko

SYRACUSE, NY U.S. Rep. John Katko (NY-24)today announced $682,211 in federal funds will be distributed to SUNY Upstate Medical University to support research on one of the leading forms of dementia.

SUNY Upstate Medical University has adedicated team of researchersworking to advance treatments and cures for neurological disorders. The new funds SUNY Upstate received are available through the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a division of the National Institute of Health (NIH), and will allow SUNY Upstate to continue important research on neurological disorders. Since coming to Congress, Rep. Katko has successfully advocated for additional funding for the NIH, and most recently urged the House Appropriations Committee to authorize over $46 billion for the NIH in fiscal year 2022.

Im proud to announce SUNY Upstate Medical University will be receiving over $600,000 in federal funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to support research on one of the leading forms of dementia,said Rep. Katko. Having witnessed my father develop and ultimately pass away from Alzheimers, I understand the physical, financial, and emotional burden dementia can have on those who suffer, their caretakers, and their families. In Congress Ive consistently supported efforts to robustly fund the NIH, which provides critical federal funding to support the development of the next generation of treatment and cures. Im glad this new funding will be used to help the dedicated neurology research team at SUNY Upstate continue their work to prevent, diagnose, and treat neurological disorders.

The new funding for SUNY Upstate will specifically support research by Wei-Dong Yao, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and, Neuroscience and Physiology. Yao is researching frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the leading dementia most prevalent before age 65 and the most common form of dementia after Alzheimers disease.

Yaos study represents the first attempt to investigate the role of a new disease gene in FTD pathogenesis. The proposed studies are fundamentally important and highly significant because they have the potential to uncover novel pathogenic mechanisms and treatment strategies for FTD and related neurodegenerative diseases.

I am grateful for the support of the NIH in funding this important study, said Professor Yao.I also want to thank U.S. Rep. Katko for continuing to push for additional federal funding into treatments for neurological disorders. This additional funding is important to continue important research into diseases of today.

Yao is an Empire Scholar and joined Upstate from Harvard University in 2014 through the SUNYs Empire Innovation Program.

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Rep. Katko Announces Over $600K in Federal Funding for SUNY Upstate Medical University to Support Research on Dementia - Congressman John Katko

Physiology

More than 800 Fall 2021 SRJC classes will be in-person – The Oak Leaf

Santa Rosa Junior College will offer 806 inperson sections this Fall 2021 semester after offering about 100 in spring, according to SRJC President Dr. Frank Chong.

The remaining 1,635 sections will take place online, some with mandatory synchronous Zoom meetings and others independently paced.

Classes begin on Aug. 17. Check the list of important deadlines and the schedule of classes for more information.

SRJC published a detailed plan for safely returning to campus amidst the ongoing pandemic. Most student services will continue to operate remotely or on campus by appointment only.

COVID-19 vaccines are strongly recommended but are not required for students, faculty or staff. Students can make an appointment with the Student Health Center to receive a free vaccine.

Sections with in-person components include classes from health sciences and public safety, which were previously offered on-campus during the pandemic, as well as classes from a wider variety of departments listed in a recent college press release:

Art, history, English, math, career education, agriculture and natural resources, communications, culinary, biological sciences, anatomy, physiology, administration of justice, microbiology, chemistry, music, theatre arts, physics, floristry, horticulture, auto tech, machine tech, welding, counseling, kinesiology/dance, astronomy, anthropology, animal health, business administration and sociology.

Seats are widely available and our faculty are ready to meet students in whatever way best suits their needs, said Dr. Jane Saldaa-Talley, vice president of Academic Affairs, in the press release.

Other COVID-19 safety plans include mandatory indoor masking regardless of vaccination status, daily symptom checks, limited in-person class sizes, frequent disinfection of shared spaces and improved air filtration.

Dr. Chong said about 50 safety monitors, mostly students, will help guide people through new protocols, such as signing in before entering a building for contact tracing and completing symptom checks.

Were trying to create a safe campus and were doing everything the Centers for Disease Control has advised in order to open safely, Dr. Chong said.

People need to realize were over COVID, but COVIDs not over us. We thought the light was at the end of the tunnel; now the tunnel seems like its been a little elongated, he said.

Dr. Chong asks students to be patient with SRJC and encourages everyone to lead with kindness.

Know the people at the JC care deeply about providing educational opportunities, but we cant be so-called COVID-proof. It would be less than honest to say if you come to campus youre not going to get COVID, he said. The best way [to prevent that], based on science, is to get vaccinated.

Students taking classes in-person or online can attend Virtual Welcome Week Aug. 1223 featuring workshops about transferring, financial aid, health services and how to get involved on campus. There will be a free food giveaway featuring Shone Farm produce from 911 a.m. Aug. 23 at the Santa Rosa Campuss Emeritus parking lot.

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More than 800 Fall 2021 SRJC classes will be in-person - The Oak Leaf

Physiology

WVU Today | WVU researcher develops copper-infused mask for hospitality and tourism industry – WVU Today

Adrea Welsh, WVU Hospitality Innovation and Technology Lab student, tests the efficacy of the Hygenmask, developed by Ajay Aluri of the Chambers College of Business and Economics. Karen Woodfork, of the WVU Center for Inhalation Toxicology, oversees the technology. (WVU Photo/Brian Persinger)

Employees manning the frontlines of customer service, whether behind the hotel front desk or the restaurant counter, come face-to-face with folks from all walks of life for hours on end.

With the delta variant on the rise, the lambda variant taking hold and an upswing in COVID-19 cases, the hospitality business is seeing staffing issues as people weigh their personal safety against their employment as the pandemic rages on.

Masking up is one safe precaution. But its also an uncomfortable gesture, as some masks may inflict wear and tear on the face or not provide an adequate level of protection for the worker, explained Ajay Aluri, founding director of the Hospitality Innovation and Technology Lab at West Virginia University.

As a native of India, where copper is king and touted for its antimicrobial properties, Aluri thought, Why not make a safer, more comfortable mask infused with copper when using for a longer period of time?

Copper has a special place in the culture and tradition of India, said Aluri, also associate professor of hospitality and tourism management in the Chambers College of Business and Economics. People wear copper bracelets and use copper utensils for cooking. And theres a notion, from the COVID standpoint, that copper is antimicrobial.

From the HIT Lab was born Hygenmask, a three-layered facemask containing a copper-infused nano-coated fabric, a sustainable bamboo fabric and an ePTFE (a biomaterial) filter. Wearers also dont have to worry about elf ears since the masks lack ear loops. Elastic head loops go over the head and can be tightened for a customized fit.

WVU HIT Lab is a platform for both industry and academia to come together to solve the problems of the hospitality and tourism industry. Before Hygenmask, Aluri and his students created Hygenkey, a copper touch tool with antiviral and antibacterial qualities, in response to the pandemic in 2020.

The mask is ideally for people who are always at the front desk or talking to people six to eight hours at a time, whether in restaurants, resorts, airports, or any hospitality and tourism industry, Aluri said. Some of these masks out there, if you wear them for a long time, it can be really rough on your skin. So we strived to make it more hygienic and sustainable from a fabric standpoint.

One of Aluris partners recommended a sustainable bamboo fabric, which offers a smooth feel but still fits tight around the face, he said.

But you dont have to take his word for it. Aluri reached across campus to ask scientists with the WVU School of Medicines Center for Inhalation Toxicology (iTOX) to test the product. Since the onset of the pandemic, the Center has been at the forefront of testing all sorts of masks from N95 alternatives to WVU gaiters to the Singers Mask to double masks.

The Center found that Aluris mask blocked up to 93% of droplets being respired.

The Hygenmask offers good protection to its users, said Timothy R. Nurkiewicz, director of the Center and E.J. Van Liere Endowed Professor and chair of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology. Combined with physical distancing, good HVAC, limiting time in a crowd and limiting the crowd size, the mask should afford the users some confidence.

Researchers conducted fit testing, which evaluates how well a mask protects the person wearing the mask. A score of 100 is necessary to pass a N95 mask. Gaiters and saggy disposable masks typically score a one.

Aluris mask ranged from six-to -15 on the study participants.

Those numbers are substantially better than what you would find with your average cloth masks, which usually gets a fit factor of two, said Karen Woodfork, a teaching associate professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology who was part of the research team.

People send us all kinds of masks and most of them get ones or twos, Nurkiewicz said. When we saw Ajays mask scoring in that range, that tells you theres a bit of protection there.

Nurkiewiczs lab did not test the copper properties of the mask.

Perhaps theres no better way to test a product than actually using it.

Aluri donned the mask during a 14-hour flight to India.

Im only taking it down when Im eating or drinking, Aluri said. I had no marks on my face and Hygenmask was quite comfortable.

Most of all, Nurkiewicz and his team believe that Aluris mask accomplishes its purpose and will be of benefit to its target audience those who serve the public day-to-day.

The mask sits away from your mouth enough so you can articulate better, Nurkiewicz said. Also, in terms of regular breathing, you will labor more with a mask that sits right on your lips. Theres some space there, making it more comfortable and making the wearer more likely to keep it on for a longer period of time.

-WVU-

js/08/09/21

CONTACT: Heather RichardsonAssistant Dean of Communications, Engagement & Impact|John Chambers College of Business and Economics304-293-9625; hrichard@mail.wvu.edu

OR

Jake StumpDirectorWVU Research Communications304-293-5507; jake.stump@mail.wvu.edu

Call 1-855-WVU-NEWS for the latest West Virginia University news and information from WVUToday.

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WVU Today | WVU researcher develops copper-infused mask for hospitality and tourism industry - WVU Today

Cell Biology

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor redux: Discovery of accessories opens therapeutic vistas – Science

Accessory proteins and nicotinic receptors

Acetylcholine was the first neurotransmitter identified, and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) were the first neurotransmitter receptors isolated. Recent studies have identified a multitude of molecules and mechanisms that regulate nAChRs in different tissues. In a Review, Matta et al. discuss these discoveries and their implications for the cell biology and medicinal pharmacology of nACHRs. Many accessory factors promote the assembly and function of diverse nAChRs. Some factors are small molecules, some are proteins, some control receptor biogenesis, and some regulate channel gating. These protein chaperones and auxiliary subunits elucidate the pharmacological and physiological processes regulated by acetylcholine.

Science, abg6539, this issue p. eabg6539

One hundred years ago, experiments on beating frog hearts identified acetylcholine (ACh) as the seminal neurotransmitter. Sixty years later, fractionation of the eel electroplax isolated nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs) as the first purified ion channel. We now appreciate that a family of nAChRs are differentially expressed in numerous tissues, including the brain, skeletal muscle, white blood cells, and cochlear hair cells. Paralleling this wide distribution, nAChRs mediate diverse physiological functions, including cognition, muscle contraction, immunomodulation, and sound discrimination. Neuronal nAChRs also account for the psychoactive and addictive properties of tobacco and are the primary genetic risk factors for lung cancer. Therapeutically, nAChRs provide pharmacological targets of approved medicines for cardiovascular and neurological disorders.

Nicotinic AChRs comprise multiple subunits whose molecular folding and surface trafficking involve complex and tightly regulated processes. As nAChRs often require tissue-specific factors for functional expression, many subtypes fail to create receptor channels in recombinant systems. Our limited understanding of nAChR assembly has impeded basic research and drug development.

Studies in the 1970s found that smokers have increased nAChR density in the brain owing to receptor stabilization by nicotinea process that likely contributes to tobacco addiction. Recent applications of proteomics, genetics, and expression cloning have identified a bevy of partner proteins and metabolites essential for nAChR function. These accessories act at multiple steps in nAChR biogenesis. Within the endoplasmic reticulum, chaperones mediate nAChR subunit folding and assembly. Other factors then promote nAChR trafficking to the plasma membrane. Finally, auxiliary subunits associated with surface nAChRs modulate channel activation. These chaperones and auxiliary subunits include both nAChR-specific regulators and more pleiotropic factors. On the one hand, NACHO (a neuronal endoplasmic reticulumresident protein) serves as a client-specific chaperone for neuronal nAChRs. By contrast, transmembrane inner ear protein contributes to both hair cell nAChRs and mechanosensitive channels, which modulate cochlear amplification and transduce sound waves, respectively. Interplay between nAChR accessory components can further regulate receptor distribution and function.

Discovery of these molecules and mechanisms is transforming basic and translational science concerning nAChRs. Inclusion of appropriate chaperones during protein production is enabling structural studies of nAChR subtypes. Accessory components are also permitting biophysical studies of nAChR channel properties. Furthermore, understanding mechanisms that control trafficking and subunit composition is defining roles for nAChRs in biological processes and disease.

This research also provides therapeutic opportunities. The dearth of pharmacological agents for certain nAChRs results from challenges in recombinant expression of many receptor types. The ability to express complex nAChR subunit combinations in cell lines unlocks them for the chemical screening that initiates drug discovery. Auxiliary subunits can themselves provide pharmacological targets. Furthermore, drugging chaperone pathways may benefit myasthenia gravis and other diseases associated with aberrant nAChR levels.

Despite being the archetypal neurotransmitter receptor, much remains unknown about nAChRs. The identification of molecular partners and elucidation of regulatory mechanisms provide a cell biological renaissance and can suggest avenues for treating diseases associated with nAChR dysfunction.

Throughout the body, nAChRs are differentially expressed in neurons, myocytes, leukocytes, and cochlear and vestibular hair cells. An array of nAChR chaperones and auxiliary subunits (inset) mediate endoplasmic reticulum folding and assembly, intracellular trafficking, and plasma membrane activation. The recent identification of receptor accessories enables drug discovery for these nAChRs, which provide compelling targets for neurological, psychiatric, immunological, and auditory disorders.

The neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) acts in part through a family of nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs), which mediate diverse physiological processes including muscle contraction, neurotransmission, and sensory transduction. Pharmacologically, nAChRs are responsible for tobacco addiction and are targeted by medicines for hypertension and dementia. Nicotinic AChRs were the first ion channels to be isolated. Recent studies have identified molecules that control nAChR biogenesis, trafficking, and function. These nAChR accessories include protein and chemical chaperones as well as auxiliary subunits. Whereas some factors act on many nAChRs, others are receptor specific. Discovery of these regulatory mechanisms is transforming nAChR research in cells and tissues ranging from central neurons to spinal ganglia to cochlear hair cells. Nicotinic AChRspecific accessories also enable drug discovery on high-confidence targets for psychiatric, neurological, and auditory disorders.

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Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor redux: Discovery of accessories opens therapeutic vistas - Science

Cell Biology

UNM names 10 faculty to the rank of Distinguished Professor – UNM Newsroom

The University of New Mexicorecently announced the promotion and honor of 10faculty to the rank of Distinguished Professor. They include Lisa Broidy, Alexander Buium, Joseph Cook, Laura Crossey, Jeremy Edwards, Fernando Garzon, Kerry Howe, Mary Ann Osley, Nina Wallerstein and Douglas Ziedonis.

The rank of Distinguished Professor is the highest title that UNM bestows upon its faculty. It is awarded to those individuals who have demonstrated outstanding achievements, and are nationally and internationally renowned as scholars.

College of Arts and Sciences

Lisa Broidy

Lisa BroidyBroidys research focuses on how gender frames the structural, individual, and situational processes associated with violence and antisocial behavior. Building primarily from General Strain Theory and Developmental & Life Course Theories, her work contributes to the growing theoretical and empirical literature that account for gender differences in criminal involvement while also recognizing the significant heterogeneity that characterizes womens pathways into and out of crime.

She examines the relationship between gender and crime in both contemporary and historical contexts in the U.S. and cross-nationally. In investigating why women offend at much lower rates than men, her work suggests that the structural and social contexts women navigate limit their opportunities and motivations for serious offending. At the same time, her work illustrates that throughout the life course, girls and women confront a range of challenges that, for some, do prove criminogenic and can have both short and long-term consequences for their offending trajectories. Her work also examines the implications of these gendered processes for criminal justice policy and practice, particularly around female incarceration and domestic violence.

Alexandru Buium

Alexandru BuiumBuium was born in 1955, in Bucharest, Romania. He holds an M.S. from the University of Bucharest, Romania (1980) and a Ph.D. from the University of Bucharest, Romania (1983). From 1990 to 1995, he was a senior researcher at the Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy. From 1995 to 1997, he was an associate professor at UNM. He has been a professor of mathematics at The University of New Mexico since 1997. He was awarded the Titeica Prize of the Romanian Academy of Science (1987), a Humboldt Fellow (1992/93), a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (1993/94) and a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (class of 2016).

His visiting positions include at Columbia University (NYC), University of Paris 7 (Paris), Max Planck Institute (Bonn), Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton) and Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques (Bures, France).

Buiums research areas include algebra, number theory and geometry. He has written several publications (6 research monographs and over 80 research papers) including the 2013 textbookMathematics: a Minimal Introduction, and the research monographsDifferential Function Fields and Moduli of Algebraic Varieties, Lecture Notes in Math(1986),Differential Algebraic Groups of Finite Dimension, Lecture Notes in Math(1992), andDifferential Algebra and Diophantine Geometry(1994).

Joseph Cook

Joseph CookAfter dropping out of high school in Silver City, Cook received his GED, and later B.S. in Biology at Western New Mexico University (1980), and M.S. (1982), and Ph.D. in Biology (1990) at UNM. He then moved to the University of Alaska and was promoted to Professor of Biology, Chief Curator, and Curator of Mammals and Cryogenic Collections at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. He later served as Professor (1990-2000) and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Idaho State University (2000-2003). Subsequently, he returned to New Mexico as Professor of Biology and Curator of Mammals of the Museum of Southwestern Biology, where he also served as Director (2011-2017) and Curator of Genomic Resources (2007-2017). He was named Regents Professor in 2018.

Over the past two decades, he and his staff and students have built the UNM museum into the second largest collection of mammals worldwide, recently surpassing the British Museum in London. Critical biodiversity infrastructure, this resource is now the basis for >100 publications annually and is used widely in efforts to study emerging zoonotic pathogens, wildlife conservation, environmental pollutants, climate change, and the biological diversity of our planet. Cook has chaired national conservation committees (American Society of Mammalogists); led multiple international consortia and communities of practice (e.g., AIM-UP! Research Coordinating Network, Project Echos Museums and Emerging Pathogens in the Americas); was President of a national museum association (Natural Science Collections Alliance), and served on the National Academy of Sciences panel that reviewed U.S. bio-collection infrastructure.

Laura Crossey

Laura CrosseyCrossey works with aqueous and sedimentary geochemistry, and applications of low-temperature geochemistry to problems in hydrochemistry, diagenesis, geomicrobiology and geothermal processes. Her research approach combines field examination of modern environments (biogeochemistry of water and sediments) with laboratory analysis as well as core and outcrop evaluations applied to evaluate paleohydrology, spring sustainability and reservoir/aquifer characteristics.

She is an MSL Expert Consultant for the ChemCam Team, Mars Science Laboratory Rover. Other activities include geoscience outreach, K-12 outreach, and science education research as well as programs to increase the participation of under-represented groups in the science disciplines. She is a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Geological Society of America (GSA) and served as the Birdsall Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer for 2019 (sponsored by the Hydrogeology Division of GSA).

Jeremy Edwards

Jeremy EdwardsEdwards has worked at the interface of biology, bioinformatics, and engineering since the beginning of his scientific career. His graduate advisor was Dr. Bernhard Palsson, where he was the first person to take genome sequence information and develop predictive mathematical models of bacterial metabolism. His research started a significant global effort and many papers from his graduate work have over 800 citations. His graduate work sparked an intense interest in genomics technology and thus he worked with Dr. George Church at Harvard Medical School for his post-doctoral studies. He has worked on the development of genome technologies since that time.

Now, his laboratory is in the NCI designated Cancer Research and Treatment Center at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. He has a very active group of engineers, biologists, and chemists, all working together toward the development of ultrahigh-throughput DNA sequencing technology and computational biology.

UNM School of Engineering

Fernando Garzon

Fernando Garzon joined UNM in 2014 as a jointly-appointed faculty member with Sandia National Laboratories, coming from Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is currently the director of the Center for Microengineered Materials and is an Academic Alliance Professor and continues to conduct joint research with Sandia.

His research interests include low-environmental impact electro-synthesis of fuels, the development of advanced gas sensors, fuel-cell materials technology, upgrading of light hydrocarbons, advanced manufacturing of ceramic materials technology, solid-state ionic devices for reconfigurable electronics, and sensors with ultralow detection limits for uranium and arsenic groundwater contamination.

Garzon is a fellow and past president of the Electrochemical Society and received the Department of Energy Fuel Cell Program Research Award in 2009. He is also the winner of Scientific Americans Top 50 Science and Technology Achievements for 2003 award and received the LANL Fellows Prize for Research Leadership.

Kerry Howe

Kerry Howe has been the director of the Center for Water and the Environment since 2013, where he leads the $5 million National Science Foundation-sponsored Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) Center for Water and the Environment project.

First funded in 2014, it was renewed for another $5 million over five years in 2020. Phase 1 of the CREST project focused on generating new knowledge about watersheds, treatment technologies for contaminated water, and interactions between water and energy production. Phase 2 is building on previous successes while expanding and redirecting the water-related research with new research questions, new partnerships with institutions, and a new emphasis on recruiting and retaining Native American students, a population that may be under-represented even among CREST centers.

Howe joined UNM in 2002 and is the recipient of awards including the Harrison Faculty Recognition Award, Stamm Outstanding Faculty Award and Regents Lecturer.

UNM Health Sciences Center

Mary Ann Osley

Mary Ann Osley is a professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology in the School of Medicine. She studies the processes that regulate the replication, transcription and repair DNA in chromosomes. Her work, which focuses on the role of histone proteins and chromatin in the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has important implications in the context of cancer genomics.

Her more recent work on cellular quiescence has important implications for how stem cells prevent aberrant proliferation as occurs in cancer cells. She has 63 peer-reviewed publications and has published in high-impact journals including Nature, Nature Cell Biology, Journal of Cell Biology, Molecular Cell Biology and Nucleic Acids Research.

She has received multiple grants from NIH including 3 R01 grants for her own research, and currently holds an NIH grant for her project Functional Analysis of Quiescence.

Nina Wallerstein

Nina Wallerstein is a professor of Public Health in the College of Population Health. She studies interventions in communities to promote improved health (health education, health promotion), alcohol prevention as well as other risky behaviors with an emphasis on adolescents, and methodologies for community-based participatory research.

Her work emphasizes empowerment-based, culture-centered interventions that have proven highly effective. Much of her work has engaged with the Jemez Pueblo, the Navajo Nation, and the Mescalero Apache community. Wallerstein has also worked internationally, especially in Brazil where she has formed sustained collaborations and promoted the adoption of community-based participatory research approaches throughout Brazil.

She has published more than 170 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, 7 authored, co-authored, or edited books including Community-Based Research for Health: Advancing Social and Health Equity, which is viewed as a field-defining work. She has been awarded more than $25 million in funding for her research, and currently has some $2.5 million in annual support.

Douglas Ziedonis

Douglas Ziedonis is a professor of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine and Executive Vice President of the UNM Health Sciences Center and the CEO of the UNM Health System. His research focuses on the intersection of mental illness and substance abuse and has been particularly impactful for the prevalence of tobacco use and associated health harms among schizophrenic patients.

His work has been continuously funded for over 25 years with 118 grants and has produced 328 publications/scholarly works including 146 original research articles, 21 invited articles, 9 books, 42 chapters in edited volumes, 20 behavioral therapy manuals, 12 organizational change and leadership development manuals, etc.

His work has been placed in the most prestigious journals in his field. Dr. Ziedonis research has not only examined methods of treating substance abuse that co-occurs with serious and persistent mental illness but has promoted organizational change within the medical and mental health provider communities to challenge widespread de facto acceptance of tobacco use among patients with some forms of mental illness.

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UNM names 10 faculty to the rank of Distinguished Professor - UNM Newsroom

Cell Biology

Defined by their boundaries Cells and how to run them – The Economist

Aug 7th 2021

THE CHEMICAL reactions on which life depends need a place to happen. That place is the cell. All the things which biology recognises as indisputably alive are either cells or conglomerations of cells (viruses fall into disputable territory). Since the middle of the 19th century the cell has been seen as the basic unit of life.

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A cell requires something to keep its insides in and the outside out. That is the role of the cell membrane, a flexible film made largely of lipids. These are smallish tadpole-shaped molecules with heads that are comfortable in water and twin tails that shun it. When put into a watery solution they naturally form double layers in which the water-tolerant heads are on the outside and the water-wary bits on the inside. Some plant, fungal and bacterial cells employ more rigid structures, called cell walls, as further fortifications beyond their membranes. But it is the membrane which defines the cell.

What is more, the disposition of membranes determines what sort of cell it is. Some creatures use membranes chiefly to define their perimeters. These are called prokaryotes, and come in two varieties, bacteria and archaea. In others they are also used to create structures within cells, notably a nucleus to contain the DNA on which genes are written. Such cells may have ten or 20 times more membrane within them than they have defining their surfaces. They are called eukaryotic, Greek for truly nucleated. Creatures made from them are eukaryotes.

The worlds prokaryotic cells vastly outnumber their eukaryotic cousins. Your own body has roughly as many single-celled prokaryotes living on and inside it (mostly in the gut) as it has eukaryotic cells making up muscles, nerves, bones, blood and so on. Some parts of Earths biosphere, such as the ocean floors, contain more or less nothing but prokaryotic life.

But almost everything you have ever looked at and recognised as aliveall the animals, plants, fungi and algaehas been composed of eukaryotic cells. Such cells are typically a lot larger than almost all prokaryotic ones and are capable of a far greater diversity in both form and function. Their versatility is seen in the wide range of shapes they take, from the conjoined starbursts of nerve cells to the creeping mutable blobbiness of amoebae.

Even prokaryotic cells, though, are big compared with the molecules they contain. A bacterium two millionths of a metre long encompasses around 3m protein molecules as well as the DNA which describes them, the RNA necessary to make use of those descriptions and the various smaller molecules that proteins stick together and break apart in the course of their duties (see previous Biology brief). The membrane of such a bacterium, moreover, contains around 20m lipid molecules.

But if you were to synthesise all the molecules found in that bacterium in a laboratory (quite possible, in theory) and pop them into a bacterium-sized bag you would not get a bacterium. You would get an itsy bitsy mess. A cell is not just a set of contents. It is also a set of processes running alongside each other. The only way to create a cell in which all the necessary processes are up and running is to start off with another such cell in which they are already doing so.

Feed a bacterium with the nutrients it needs and as it grows it will synthesise a copy of the DNA molecule on which its genome is stored. When it is big enough to have made a complete copy of that DNA it will split into two, with one DNA ending up in one cell, and the other in the other.

As it is for bacteria, so it is, mutatis mutandis, for all other life, for ever and ever, amen. Life is made of cells, and cells from pre-existing cells. The 30 trillion cells of which a human body is composed can in almost every case be traced back to the single fertilised egg which started it all (the exception is a condition known as chimerism in which two embryos fuse in the womb early on in development).

Of all the processes that continue from cell to cell as life goes on, none is more fundamental than those which provide lifes energy. These are completely dependent on the membranes in cells. Conditions on the two sides of a membrane will almost always be different; different molecules will be present in different concentrations. The laws of thermodynamics, though, take a dim view of different concentrations of something being next to each other. Small molecules and ions that are more frequent on one side of that membrane than the other will diffuse across it in an attempt to even things up. Proteins embedded in such membranes pump molecules in the opposite direction to maintain the distinction between inside and out.

It is by setting up a gradient of hydrogen ionshydrogen atoms with their electrons pulled offacross a membrane that living things put energy into a chemical form which they can use. This process depends on sets of proteins called electron-transport chains. These proteins are embedded in the membrane.

Electron-transport-chain proteins pass electrons to each other in a way that causes hydrogen ions on the inside of the membrane to get moved to the outside. The ions thus build up outside, which means that natures tendency to even out concentrations requires some of them to get back inside. This they do by means of a magnificent protein called ATP synthase, or just ATPase. Molecules of ATPase provide channels through the membrane which it is easy for the hydrogen ions to flow through. This flow yields usable energy, like the flow of water through a watermill.

That is not an idle metaphor. ATPase has several parts, one of which can rotate with respect to the others. As the ions flow through the protein they spin this rotor at a speed of 6,000rpm. If you could hear them at work they would be humming at something like the G two octaves below middle C. Another part of the molecule uses the kinetic energy of this spinning rotor to affix phosphate ions to a molecule called adenosine diphosphate (ADP), thus making adenosine triphosphate, or ATPcell biologys near-universal energy carrier.

In almost all instances where a cellular process requires energy, that energy is provided by breaking ATP back down into ADP. Adding an amino acid to a growing protein uses up roughly five ATPs. Synthesising membrane lipids costs about one ATP for every two carbon atoms used. A bacterium doubling in size uses about 10bn ATPs to build all the molecules it needs, meaning every one of the 10m or so ADP molecules the bacterium contains is turned into ATP and broken back down again 1,000 times during the process.

To keep the ATPase whirring, the cell requires a constant flow of electrons along its membrane-bound electron-transfer chains. There are two ways of creating such flows: respiration and photosynthesis.

Respiration breaks molecules of glucose down into carbon dioxide and water through a suite of reactions called the citric-acid cycle. A glucose-molecules worth of electrons typically pushes ten hydrogen ions across the membrane in which the respiratory electron-transfer chain is embedded. As they flow back through the ATPase they can generate 20 ATPs.

Photosynthesis uses the energy of sunlight to liberate electrons from water molecules, thus creating oxygen and also hydrogen ions ready for pushing across the membrane. Some of the ATP made this way powers a process that combines those ions with carbon-dioxide. A few more chemical reactions produce a sugar such as glucose, which then goes on to be built into all the other molecules from which life is made. Photosynthesis builds up the worlds biomass; respiration breaks it down.

In a prokaryotic cell the membrane in which electron-transfer proteins sit is that which surrounds the cell. In eukaryotic cells respiration takes place in intracellular structuresorganellescalled mitochondria. These consist of folded-up membranes rich in electron-transport chains. Containing lots of mitochondria (in humans, hundreds or thousands per cell is not uncommon) means such cells can generate a great deal of ATP. If all the membranes in your bodys mitochondria were joined and spread out flat they would cover several football fields.

Under a microscope, some mitochondria look a lot like bacteria. This is not a coincidence, it is a family resemblance. When Earth was a bit more than half its present age, which is to say around 2bn years ago, two prokaryotes, one from the archaea and one from the bacteria, contrived to merge. How, exactly, they did so is far from clear. But that merger created something truly novel: the first eukaryotic cell. Mitochondria are descendants of the bacterium involved, a descent demonstrated incontrovertibly by the fact they still have remnant genomes of their own which are distinctively bacterial. In human beings these little mitochondrial genomes are the only DNA not sequestered on chromosomes in the nucleus.

All the mitochondria in all the eukaryotes in the world date back to that merger. Similarly, chloroplaststhe organelles of photosynthesis found in plants and algaedate back to a later event in which a eukaryote engulfed a photosynthetic bacterium. Many eukaryotes remained single-celled, and do so to this day. But others began forming colonies which permitted division of labour between cells and encouraged the development of specialised body parts called organs. Which are the subject of next weeks Biology brief.

In this series on the levels of life1 Biologys big molecules2 Cells and how to power them*3 Making organs4 The story of a life5 What is a species, anyway?6 Finding living planets

This article appeared in the Schools brief section of the print edition under the headline "Layers of power"

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Defined by their boundaries Cells and how to run them - The Economist

Cell Biology

Study finds novel approach to attenuate mitochondrial dysfunction that drives diet-induced obesity – News-Medical.Net

A team of University of California, Irvine, scientists have discovered a novel pharmacological approach to attenuate the mitochondrial dysfunction that drives diet-induced obesity. The results of their study were published recently in the journal, EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Consuming a high-fat diet can lead to obesity and metabolic disorders such as diabetes and fatty liver. Palmitate, a fat abundant in a Western diet, triggers metabolic dysfunction by causing excessive mitochondrial fission within cells. Mitochondria play a crucial role in a cell's energy production, but also coordinate cell stress responses. Too much mitochondrial fission impairs their function, undermining metabolism and increasing toxic by-products associated with insulin resistance in some tissue types.

Elegant genetic studies in mice show that maintaining mitochondrial networks in a fused state can overcome high fat diet-induced obesity. Our study uses a small molecule to re-shape mitochondria in multiple tissues simultaneously, reversing obesity and correcting metabolic disease even though mice continue to consume the unhealthy diet."

Aimee Edinger, UCI Chancellor's Fellow, professor of developmental & cell biology and senior author

In their new study, Professor Edinger and her team utilized their patented water-soluble, orally bioavailable, synthetic sphingolipid SH-BC-893 to inhibit endolysosomal trafficking proteins required for mitochondrial fission. The study was conducted using in vitro experiments and a high-fat diet-induced obesity mouse model. The researchers observed that SH-BC-893 prevented mitochondrial dysfunction in the liver, brain, and white adipose tissue of mice consuming a Western diet. As a result, circulating levels of critical metabolic hormones, leptin and adiponectin, were normalized leading to weight loss, improved glucose handling, and reversal of fatty liver disease despite continued access to high-fat food.

"Imbalances in the hormones leptin and adiponectin that accompany obesity create an uphill battle for people trying to lose weight. Having too much leptin can increase appetite while too little adiponectin activity is linked to many metabolic diseases. How or why is not really clear, but the state of the mitochondria may be an important link between these hormones and obesity," said Elizabeth Selwan, a former graduate student researcher in UCI's Department of Developmental and Cell Biology and co-lead author of the study.

The study's findings suggest that SH-BC-893 could be a promising therapy for managing diet-induced obesity. The authors found the drug to be safe and effective in the mouse model and plan on further investigating the compound for possible use in human patients.

"This compound works through a novel mode of action if it is safe and effective in humans, it would offer a new weight loss strategy that could also be combined with other treatments," said Professor Edinger.

Source:

Journal reference:

Jayashankar, V., et al. (2021) Drug-like sphingolipid SH-BC-893 opposes ceramide-induced mitochondrial fission and corrects diet-induced obesity. EMBO Molecular Medicine. doi.org/10.15252/emmm.202013086.

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Study finds novel approach to attenuate mitochondrial dysfunction that drives diet-induced obesity - News-Medical.Net

Cell Biology

CFI invests $3.9 M in McGill research – McGill Newsroom

McGills researchers will soon acquire the highly specialized tools they need to innovate in their fields thanks to funding from the Government of Canada through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)s John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF). The Honourable Franois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, made the announcement today of $77 million across 50 institutions in Canadathrough the program. In total, twenty-one McGill research projects have received a combined $3.9 million in federal grants through three rounds of JELF. McGill recipients will also receive additional funds from the provincial government and the university toward the total project budget for their research endeavors.

Every profession requires the best tools and systems to improve outcomes, and research is no exception, says Martha Crago, Vice-Principal (Research and Innovation). McGills researchers are working on highly innovative solutions across the research spectrum: in healthcare, for the environment and with industry. Thanks to the new technologies and infrastructure acquired through the JELF program, McGills expertise will be augmented, and new possibilities generated for the benefit of all Canadians.

Thanks to the JELF investment, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, AJung Moon, will welcome a humanoidan autonomous mobile robotto the McGill Responsible Autonomy & Intelligent System Ethics (RAISE) lab. Her research group will also acquire an integrated digital projector, RGB-D sensor, and a motion capture system as well as an additional 7-DOF robotic arm. RAISE lab will use these new tools to investigates the impact of interactive or collaborative robots (cobots) on individuals and society. Collaborative robotics is one of the fastest-growing sub-sectors of robotics today, and it offers a promising long-term investment for Canada's economy, says Moon. However, robot influence on humans can be pre-programmed, one-sided, and deployed at scale. This can expose us to new types of harm, such as systematic manipulation of our actions and decisions. This research will help establish empirically-grounded guidelines to ensure responsible design and deployment of collaborative robotic systems in Canada and abroad.

With the investment from the CFI, biology professor Fiona Sopers lab will gain three unique tools to help quantify the contributions of plants in controlling the effects of climate change. The new acquisitions include the Acetylene Reduction Assay by Cavity ring-down laser Absorption Spectroscopy (ARACAS) systemone of the first of its kind in Canadawhich will measure nitrogen fixation in tropical plants, one of the most essential processes for the health and productivity of whole ecosystems. This infrastructure will be complemented by a portable photosynthesis system, as well as a multi-mode microplate-reader. These versatile instruments can be used to complete greenhouse growth chamber-based experiments, to analyze plant samples collected in the field, and to conduct in situ measurements in tropical ecosystems. The funding will also upgrade existing greenhouse lighting infrastructure in the McGill Phytotron that also houses Co2 -controlled growth chambers central to Sopers research.

McGill will also acquire a new state-of-the-art microscopy system, which Professor Jackie Vogel will use to advance understanding on the causes of cancer and birth defects. Vogels lab studies key events early in cell division (mitosis). While mitosis has been studied for hundreds of years, most of the research has focused on the last stage of the process, when the cell cleaves to form two identical cells. The earliest events in cell division remain relatively mysterious. With this new microscope, Vogel will be able to detect the fast movement of molecules within living cells and distinguish molecules that are very close together without damaging the cell with the phototoxic effects of intense light.

View a complete list of CFI JELF-funded projects:

https://www.mcgill.ca/research/channels/news/cfi-invests-4M-mcgill-research

Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, McGill University is Canadas top ranked medical doctoral university. McGill is consistently ranked as one of the top universities, both nationally and internationally. Itis a world-renownedinstitution of higher learning with research activities spanning two campuses, 11 faculties, 13 professional schools, 300 programs of study and over 40,000 students, including more than 10,200 graduate students. McGill attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,800 international students making up 31% of the student body. Over half of McGill students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 19% of our students who say French is their mother tongue.

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CFI invests $3.9 M in McGill research - McGill Newsroom