Digital Commons Network^™

A Hindbrain Dopaminergic Neural Circuit Prevents Weight Gain By Reinforcing Food Satiation, Yong Han, Guobin Xia, Yanlin He, Yang He, Monica Farias, Yong Xu, Qi Wu

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

The neural circuitry mechanism that underlies dopaminergic (DA) control of innate feeding behavior is largely uncharacterized. Here, we identified a subpopulation of DA neurons situated in the caudal ventral tegmental area (cVTA) directly innervating DRD1-expressing neurons within the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN). This neural circuit potently suppresses food intake via enhanced satiation response. Notably, this cohort of DAcVTA neurons is activated immediately before the cessation of each feeding bout. Acute inhibition of these DA neurons before bout termination substantially suppresses satiety and prolongs the consummatory feeding. Activation of postsynaptic DRD1LPBN neurons inhibits feeding, whereas genetic deletion of Drd1 within the …

Four Distinct Trajectories Of Tau Deposition Identified In Alzheimer’S Disease, Jacob W. Vogel, Alexandra L. Young, Neil P. Oxtoby, Ruben Smith, Rik Ossenkoppele, Olof T. Strandberg, Renaud La Joie, Leon M. Aksman, Michel J. Grothe, Yasser Iturria-Medina, Michael Weiner, Paul Aisen, Ronald Petersen, Clifford R. Jack, William Jagust, John Q. Trojanowki, Arthur W. Toga, Laurel Beckett, Robert C. Green, Andrew J. Saykin, John C. Morris, Leslie M. Shaw, Enchi Liu, Tom Montine, Ronald G. Thomas, Michael Donohue, Sarah Walter, Devon Gessert, Tamie Sather, Gus Jiminez, Danielle Harvey, Matthew Bernstein, Nick Fox, Paul Thompson

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by the spread of tau pathology throughout the cerebral cortex. This spreading pattern was thought to be fairly consistent across individuals, although recent work has demonstrated substantial variability in the population with AD. Using tau-positron emission tomography scans from 1,612 individuals, we identified 4 distinct spatiotemporal trajectories of tau pathology, ranging in prevalence from 18 to 33%. We replicated previously described limbic-predominant and medial temporal lobe-sparing patterns, while also discovering posterior and lateral temporal patterns resembling atypical clinical variants of AD. These ‘subtypes’ were stable during longitudinal follow-up and were replicated in a separate sample …

Conceptus Metabolomic Profiling Reveals Stage-Specific Phenotypes Leading Up To Pregnancy Recognition In Cattle†, Constantine A. Simintiras, José M. Sánchez, Michael Mcdonald, Elena O'Callaghan, Ahmed A. Aburima, Patrick Lonergan

Faculty Publications

Reproductive efficiency in livestock is a major driver of sustainable food production. The poorly understood process of ruminant conceptus elongation (a) prerequisites maternal pregnancy recognition, (b) is essential to successful pregnancy establishment, and (c) coincides with a period of significant conceptus mortality. Conceptuses at five key developmental stages between Days 8-16 were recovered and cultured in vitro for 6 h prior to conditioned media analysis by untargeted ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy. This global temporal biochemical interrogation of the ex situ bovine conceptus unearths two antithetical stage-specific metabolic phenotypes during tubular (metabolically retentive) vs. filamentous (secretory) development. Moreover, the …

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon-Dna Adducts In Gulf Of Mexico Sperm Whale Skin Biopsies Collected In 2012, Miriam C. Poirier, Letizia Marsili, Maria Cristina Fossi, Céline A.J. Godard-Codding, Elena E. Hernandez-Ramon, Nancy Si, Kathyayini V. Divi, Rao L. Divi, Iain Kerr, John Pierce Wise, John Pierce Wise, Catherine F. Wise, Sandra S. Wise, Abou El Makarim Aboueissa, James T.F. Wise

Faculty Publications

The northern Gulf of Mexico has a long history of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination from anthropogenic activities, natural oil seepages, and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. The continental shelf of the same area is a known breeding ground for sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). To evaluate PAH-DNA damage, a biomarker for potential cancer risk, we compared skin biopsies collected from Gulf of Mexico sperm whales in 2012 with skin biopsies collected from sperm whales in areas of the Pacific Ocean in 1999-2001. All samples were obtained by crossbow and comprised both epidermis and subcutaneous blubber. To evaluate …

Circadian Rhythms In Legumes: What Do We Know And What Else Should We Explore?, Hazel Marie Kugan, Nur Ardiyana Rejab, Nurul Amylia Sahruzaini, Jennifer Ann Harikrishna, Niranjan Baisakh, Acga Cheng

Faculty Publications

The natural timing devices of organisms, commonly known as biological clocks, are composed of specific complex folding molecules that interact to regulate the circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms, the changes or processes that follow a 24‐h light–dark cycle, while endogenously programmed, are also influenced by environmental factors, especially in sessile organisms such as plants, which can impact ecosystems and crop productivity. Current knowledge of plant clocks emanates primarily from research on Arabidopsis, which identified the main components of the circadian gene regulation network. Nonetheless, there remain critical knowledge gaps related to the molecular components of circadian rhythms in important crop groups, …

Heterotrophic Nitrogen Fixation In Response To Nitrate Loading And Sediment Organic Matter In An Emerging Coastal Deltaic Floodplain Within The Mississippi River Delta Plain, Song Li, Robert R. Twilley, Aixin Hou

Faculty Publications

Increasing nitrate (NO3⁻) loading in rivers due to agricultural fertilization alters benthic nitrogen (N) cycling and shifts coastal wetlands from being a net source to net sink of reactive N. Heterotrophic N2 fixation that converts N2 to reactive N is often assumed negligible in eutrophic ecosystems and excluded in coastal N budget evaluations. We investigated N2 fixation and denitrification in response to increasing NO3⁻ loading (0, 10, and 100 μM) and sediment organic matter (OMsediment) concentrations in the emerging Wax Lake Delta. Continuous flow-through incubations with ³⁰N2 addition was applied to measure N2 fixation. The variation …

Genome-Wide Association Study Reveals Genomic Regions Associated With Fusarium Wilt Resistance In Common Bean, Jean Fausto De Carvalho Paulino, Caléo Panhoca De Almeida, César Júnior Bueno, Qijian Song, Roberto Fritsche-Neto, Sérgio Augusto Morais Carbonell, Alisson Fernando Chiorato, Luciana Lasry Benchimol-Reis

Faculty Publications

Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. phaseoli, Fop) is one of the main fungal soil diseases in common bean. The aim of the present study was to identify genomic regions associated with Fop resistance through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in a Mesoamerican Diversity Panel (MDP) and to identify potential common bean sources of Fop’s resistance. The MDP was genotyped with BARCBean6K_3BeadChip and evaluated for Fop resistance with two different monosporic strains using the root-dip method. Disease severity rating (DSR) and the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC), at 21 days after inoculation (DAI), were used for GWAS performed with …

Does The Impact Of Intensive Lifestyle Intervention On Cognitive Function Vary Depending Baseline Level Of Frailty? An Ancillary Study To The Action For Health In Diabetes (Look Ahead) Trial, Felicia R. Simpson, Owen Carmichael, Kathleen M. Hayden, Christina E. Hugenschmidt, Jeanne M. Mccaffery, Sevil Yasar, Nicholas M. Pajewski, Mark A. Espeland

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Aims: To assess whether there is an opportune window when intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) benefits cognitive function. Methods: Standardized cognitive assessments were collected following ≥8 years of either ILI or a control condition of diabetes support and education (DSE) in 3708 individuals, ages 45-76 years at enrollment, with type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity. Frailty index (FI) scores were used to group individuals at baseline into tertiles according to their age-related health status. Linear models were used to describe intervention adherence and cognitive function, with interaction terms to examine the consistency of relationships among tertiles. Results: Worse baseline FI …

Mild Upgrading Of Biomass Pyrolysis Vapors Via Ex-Situ Catalytic Pyrolysis Over An Iron-Montmorillonite Catalyst, Candice R. Ellison, Dorin Boldor

Faculty Publications

Pyrolysis vapor upgrading can improve the stability of pyrolysis liquids to facilitate storage, transport, and drop in use as fuels and chemical feedstocks in existing refining infrastructure. This study investigates a low cost iron based catalyst for mild in-situ upgrading of fast pyrolysis vapors to increase the stability of pyrolysis liquid. Iron-doped montmorillonite K10 catalysts were characterized by ICP-OES, BET porosimetry, XRD, XPS, and NH3-TPD. The effect of three upgrading process parameters are evaluated by Box-Behnken experimental design using a fixed catalyst bed. Predictive model equations are developed based on response surface methodology to describe the effect of iron loading, …

Rev-Erb In Gabaergic Neurons Controls Diurnal Hepatic Insulin Sensitivity, Guolian Ding, Xin Li, Xinguo Hou, Wenjun Zhou, Yingyun Gong, Fuqiang Liu, Yanlin He, Jia Song, Jing Wang, Paul Basil, Wenbo Li, Sichong Qian, Pradip Saha, Jinbang Wang, Chen Cui, Tingting Yang, Kexin Zou, Younghun Han, Christopher I. Amos, Yong Xu, Li Chen, Zheng Sun

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Systemic insulin sensitivity shows a diurnal rhythm with a peak upon waking1,2. The molecular mechanism that underlies this temporal pattern is unclear. Here we show that the nuclear receptors REV-ERB-α and REV-ERB-β (referred to here as ‘REV-ERB’) in the GABAergic (γ-aminobutyric acid-producing) neurons in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) (SCNGABA neurons) control the diurnal rhythm of insulin-mediated suppression of hepatic glucose production in mice, without affecting diurnal eating or locomotor behaviours during regular light–dark cycles. REV-ERB regulates the rhythmic expression of genes that are involved in neurotransmission in the SCN, and modulates the oscillatory firing activity of SCNGABA neurons. Chemogenetic stimulation …

Α-Cgrp Disrupts Amylin Fibrillization And Regulates Insulin Secretion: Implications On Diabetes And Migraine, Amber L.H. Gray, Aleksandra Antevska, Benjamin A. Link, Bryan Bogin, Susan J. Burke, Samuel D. Dupuy, J. Jason Collier, Zachary A. Levine, Michael D. Karlstad, Thanh D. Do

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Despite being relatively benign and not an indicative signature of toxicity, fibril formation and fibrillar structures continue to be key factors in assessing the structure-function relationship in protein aggregation diseases. The inability to capture molecular cross-talk among key players at the tissue level before fibril formation greatly accounts for the missing link toward the development of an efficacious therapeutic intervention for Type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We show that human α-calcitonin gene-related peptide (α-CGRP) remodeled amylin fibrillization. Furthermore, while CGRP and/or amylin monomers reduce the secretion of both mouse Ins1 and Ins2 proteins, CGRP oligomers have a reverse effect on …

Green Alga Bicarbonate Transporter And Uses Thereof, James V. Moroney, Marylou C. Machingura, Joanna Bajsa-Hirschel

College of Science Patents

Provided herein are green alga Cia8 polypeptides and the polynucleotides that encode them. Also provided herein are transformed cells and transgenic plants that include one or more of the polynucleotides and/or polypeptides provided herein.

The Modern Plant Breeding Triangle: Optimizing The Use Of Genomics, Phenomics, And Enviromics Data, Jose Crossa, Roberto Fritsche-Neto, Osval A. Montesinos-Lopez, Germano Costa-Neto, Susanne Dreisigacker, Abelardo Montesinos-Lopez, Alison R. Bentley

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Controlling The Orientation Of Fluorescent Dyes Using External Electric Fields, Henry J. Kantrow

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Trichoderma Asperellum Inoculation As A Tool For Attenuating Drought Stress In Sugarcane, Daniele Scudeletti, Carlos Alexandre Costa Crusciol, João William Bossolani, Luiz Gustavo Moretti, Letusa Momesso, Brenda Servaz Tubaña, Sérgio Gustavo Quassi De Castro, Elisa Fidêncio De Oliveira, Mariangela Hungria

Faculty Publications

Drought stress is an important concern worldwide which reduces crop yield and quality. To alleviate this problem, Trichoderma asperellum has been used as a plant growth-promoting fungus capable of inducing plant tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Here, we examined the effect of T. asperellum inoculation on sugarcane plant above and belowground development under drought stress and investigated the role of this fungus on inducing tolerance to drought at physiological and biochemical levels. The experiment was performed in pots under greenhouse conditions, with four treatments and four replicates. The treatments consisted of sugarcane plants inoculated or not with T. asperellum …

A Genetic Screen Identifies New Steps In Oocyte Maturation That Enhance Proteostasis In The Immortal Germ Lineage, M Samaddar, J Goudeau, M Sanchez, D H. Hall, M Samaddar, M Ingaramo, C Kenyon

Faculty Publications

Somatic cells age and die, but the germ-cell lineage is immortal. In Caenorhabditis elegans, germline immortality involves proteostasis renewal at the beginning of each new generation, when oocyte maturation signals from sperm trigger the clearance of carbonylated proteins and protein aggregates. Here, we explore the cell biology of this proteostasis renewal in the context of a whole-genome RNAi screen. Oocyte maturation signals are known to trigger protein-aggregate removal via lysosome acidification. Our findings suggest that lysosomes are acidified as a consequence of changes in endoplasmic reticulum activity that permit assembly of the lysosomal V-ATPase, which in turn allows lysosomes to …

Capture And Metabolomic Analysis Of The Human Endometrial Epithelial Organoid Secretome, Constantine A. Simintiras, Pramod Dhakal, Chaman Ranjit, Harriet C. Fitzgerald, Ahmed Z. Balboula, Thomas E. Spencer

Faculty Publications

Suboptimal uterine fluid (UF) composition can lead to pregnancy loss and likely contributes to offspring susceptibility to chronic adult-onset disorders. However, our understanding of the biochemical composition and mechanisms underpinning UF formation and regulation remain elusive, particularly in humans. To address this challenge, we developed a high-throughput method for intraorganoid fluid (IOF) isolation from human endometrial epithelial organoids. The IOF is biochemically distinct to the extraorganoid fluid (EOF) and cell culture medium as evidenced by the exclusive presence of 17 metabolites in IOF. Similarly, 69 metabolites were unique to EOF, showing asymmetrical apical and basolateral secretion by the in vitro …

Gastrointestinal Microenvironment And The Gut-Lung Axis In The Immune Responses Of Severe Covid-19, Yun Yang, Weishan Huang, Yubo Fan, Guo-Qiang Chen

Faculty Publications

The global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is an unprecedented threat to the human health. A close association of the digestive tract is implied by the high frequency of gastrointestinal syndromes among COVID-19 patients. A better understanding of the role of intestinal microenvironment in COVID-19 immunopathology will be helpful to improve the control of COVID-19 associated morbidity and mortality. This review summarizes the immune responses associated with the severity of COVID-19, the current evidence of SARS-CoV-2 intestinal tropism, and the potential involvement of gut microenvironment in COVID-19 severity. Additionally, we …

Structure-Activity Relationship Analysis Of Psychedelics In A Rat Model Of Asthma Reveals The Anti-Inflammatory Pharmacophore, Thomas W. Flanagan, Gerald B. Billac, Alexus N. Landry, Melaine N. Sebastian, Stephania A. Cormier, Charles D. Nichols

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Psychedelic drugs can exert potent anti-inflammatory effects. However, anti-inflammatory effects do not appear to correlate with behavioral activity, suggesting different underlying mechanisms. We hypothesized that the distinct structural features of psychedelics underlie functionally selective mechanisms at the target 5-HT2A receptor to elicit maximal anti-inflammatory effects. In order to test this hypothesis, we developed a new rat-based screening platform for allergic asthma. Next, we investigated 21 agonists at the 5-HT2A receptor from the three primary chemotypes (phenylalkylamine, ergoline, and tryptamine) for their ability to prevent airways hyperresponsiveness as a measure of pulmonary inflammation. Furthermore, we assessed each drug for in vitro …

The Second Line Parade And The Construction Of Identity Through Costume In The Group The Undefeated Divas, Gents And Kids., Suellen Da Costa Coelho

LSU Master's Theses

This research aims to investigate the role of costume in identity formation in the second line group The Undefeated Divas, Gents and Kids. The methodology used in this research was data collection through interviews with members of the group. Through these interviews, we seek to establish the importance of costume in reflecting and constructing a sense of community within the group.

While the existing literature focuses on the history of second line parades and their importance in Louisiana’s culture, this research intends to explore costume’s meaning and significance. The purpose of this work is to complement the existing literature in …

Effects Of Historical Land-Use Change On Surface Runoff And Flooding In The Amite River Basin, Louisiana, Usa Using Coupled 1d/2d Hec-Ras–Hec-Hms Hydrological Modeling, Alexandre G. H. Cowles

LSU Master's Theses

The Amite River Basin is a largely rural watershed spanning parts of four counties in southern Mississippi and seven parishes in southeast Louisiana, with basinwide imperviousness increasing from 0.82% in 1938 to 3.85% in 2016. The Basin has been the subject of significant research interest since catastrophic flooding in 2016 caused 13 deaths and widespread damages. Rapid development in recent decades has led to an expansion of impervious surfaces in Baton Rouge and surrounding areas, encroaching on floodplains and wetlands. At the basin scale, differences in flooding due to impervious cover changes were found to be somewhat limited, particularly along …

Five Love Languages: Assessment Of Marital Satisfaction In African American Couples, Freddricka C. Lee

LSU Master's Theses

This mixed-methods study examined marital satisfaction among five (n = 10) heterosexual, African American married couples. In particular, this study examined how acknowledging a partner’s love language (Chapman, 1995) can affect these couples’ level of marital satisfaction. The participants were native to the South and ranged from 26-55 years of age. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data revealed couples were satisfied with their marriages. Although only marginally significant, the findings also revealed acknowledging a spouse’s love language was positively related to higher levels of marital satisfaction. Seven themes emerged throughout the interviews, namely communication; financial stability; understand a spouse’s …

Coilin Expression During Nucleolar Stress In The Drosophila Brain, Kathryn Rose Deleo

LSU Master's Theses

Impairment of ribosome biogenesis disrupts cellular homeostasis and, in the process, causes a state of nucleolar stress in a cell. This triggers human syndromes collectively known as ribosomopathies. One such ribosomopathy is the Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS) which causes congenital craniofacial birth defects and hearing loss in patients. In TCS migration of neural crest cells during development is hindered by the loss of the ribosome assembly factor, treacle, and consequent apoptosis of these progenitor cells. Modeling this disorder in Drosophila was previously accomplished by disruption of Nopp140, treacle’s closest equivalent in Drosophila. During nucleolar stress, the Mushroom Body neuroblast …

The One – Way (Agri)Cultural Mirror: A Case Study Of How Young Agriculturalists Understand And Experience Culture, Janiece M. Pigg

LSU Master's Theses

As the global economy continues to transform how society operates, cultural competence has become a buzzword in education, professional development, research, government, and healthcare (Gay, 1994; Gallus et al., 2014). Cross et al. (1989) developed the most accepted definition of cultural competence: “a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enable that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross-cultural situations” (p. 13).

Despite this, little to no research has been devoted to understanding cultural competence in agriculture. Thus, a need emerged to describe the cultural competence …

Implementing Four Modeling Improvement Strategies To Measure The Economic Contribution Of The Alligator Farming Industry In Louisiana, Ilich Fernan Rosales Chiessa

LSU Master's Theses

The alligator industry in Louisiana has not had a study in thirty years that has measured its economic contribution. The industry has changed structurally over that period, and it produces more alligator skins but is concentrated in a smaller number of producers. With current threats to the industry through potential bans on alligator sales in states like California, the importance of these studies for the industry are more important now than ever. This study measures the economic contribution of American alligator across the supply chain of the state of Louisiana through four different modeling improvement strategies. These consist of using …

Dynamic Energy Budget Modelling To Predict Eastern Oyster Growth, Reproduction, And Mortality Under River Management And Climate Change Scenarios, Romain Lavaud, Megan K. La Peyre, Dubravko Justic, Jerome F. La Peyre

Faculty Publications

Eastern oysters growing in deltaic Louisiana estuaries in the northern Gulf of Mexico must tolerate considerable salinity variation from natural climate variability (e.g., rainfall and stream run-off pushing isohalines offshore; tropical storms pushing isohalines inshore) and man-made diversions and siphons releasing freshwater from the Mississippi River. These salinity variations are predicted to increase with future climate change because of the increased frequency of stronger storms and also in response to proposed large-scale river diversions. Increased Mississippi River flow into coastal estuaries from river diversions, along with potential changes in rainfall and stream run-off from climate change will alter spatial and …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Zein-Based Low Density Porous Absorbent (Zelda) For Oil Spill Recovery, Nathan P. Holley, Jin Gyun Lee, Kalliat T. Valsaraj, Bhuvnesh Bharti

Faculty Publications

Removal of spilled petroleum oil from water bodies using hydrophobic porous absorbent has garnered considerable attention due to the simplicity, large-scale adaptability and robustness of the process. However, the use of nonbiodegradable synthetic oil absorbent during cleanup has raised a secondary concern such as generating plastic pollutants that can accumulate in marine and other ecosystems. To encounter this potential hazard, there is a need to find new biocompatible alternatives to currently used non-degradable porous materials. Here we present ZEin-based Low Density porous Absorbent (ZELDA) synthesized from an emulsion templating method as a new class of naturally derived porous material with …

Engineering Pest Tolerance Through Plant-Mediated Rna Interference, Seung Ho Chung, Honglin Feng, Georg Jander

Faculty Publications

Expression of insect-targeted RNA interference (RNAi) constructs in transgenic plants is a promising approach for agricultural pest control. Compared to conventional chemical insecticides, RNAi target specificity is high and the potential for negative environmental effects is low. However, although numerous laboratory studies show insect growth inhibition by double stranded RNA or artificial microRNA, few of these constructs have been moved into commercial application as genetically engineered plants. Variation in RNA degradation, uptake, processing, and systemic transport in insects can influence interspecific and intraspecific differences in RNAi efficacy and the development of resistance to RNAi in agricultural settings. Further research is …

An Early Global Role For Axin Is Required For Correct Patterning Of The Anterior-Posterior Axis In The Sea Urchin Embryo, Hongyan Sun, Chieh Fu Jeff Peng, Lingyu Wang, Honglin Feng, Athula H. Wikramanayake

Faculty Publications

Activation of Wnt/β-catenin (cWnt) signaling at the future posterior end of early bilaterian embryos is a highly conserved mechanism for establishing the anterior-posterior (AP) axis. Moreover, inhibition of cWnt at the anterior end is required for development of anterior structures in many deuterostome taxa. This phenomenon, which occurs around the time of gastrulation, has been fairly well characterized, but the significance of intracellular inhibition of cWnt signaling in cleavage-stage deuterostome embryos for normal AP patterning is less well understood. To investigate this process in an invertebrate deuterostome, we defined Axin function in early sea urchin embryos. Axin is ubiquitously expressed …

Decomposition Rates Of Spartina Alterniflora (Smooth Cordgrass) In Natural And Created Salt Marshes In Coastal Louisiana, Allison Benelli

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.