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Impacts Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill On Reproduction And Ontogeny Of Gulf Killifish (Fundulus Grandis), Charles Alexander Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill released an estimated 779 million liters of Macondo-252 crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the largest marine oil spill in history. Over a thousand kilometers of marshland that many species of fish use as a spawning grounds and nurseries was oiled, exposing breeding adult fish and their offspring to oil. My dissertation investigates the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and associated remediation efforts on the reproduction and ontogeny of a sentinel ecotoxicological species, the Gulf killifish (Fundulus grandis). Concerns were raised regarding use of …

Sodium Propionate And Sodium Butyrate Promote Fatty Acid Oxidation In Hepg2 Cells Under Oxidative Stress, Kristina Jazmin Cook

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a spectrum of disturbances that includes simple steatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. NAFLD affects individuals that consume the typical Western diet consisting of high levels of fats and carbohydrates. The increase in circulating free fatty acids, palmitate and oleate, or lipopolysaccharides (LPS), induce oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory cytokine production in the liver, which all contribute to NAFLD progression. In this study, we are evaluating the mRNA expression of genes associated with fatty acid oxidation (FAO) and the protein expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines related to NAFLD using the HepG2 human liver …

Vibrational And Electronic Structure Of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals Formed On Metal Oxide Nanoclusters And Single-Crystal Surfaces, Nadra Ibrahim Sakr

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We have studied the morphology and electronic structure of transition metal oxides (TMOs) nanoparticles and single-crystal surfaces which are known to be active for the formation of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) from organic precursors. We have also investigated the effect of simulated solar irradiation on the formed EPFRs.

First, we examined the change in the vibrational and structural properties of TiO₂, ZnO, CuO, and Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles due to phenol adsorption at high temperature and thus EPFR formation on the surface of these TMOs. The paramagnetic signal observed by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) indicates the …

Influence Of Neighboring Clonal-Colonies On Aflatoxin Production By Aspergillus Flavus, Rebecca R. Sweany, Kenneth E. Damann

Faculty Publications

Aspergillus flavus is an ascomycete fungus that infects and contaminates corn, peanuts, cottonseed, and treenuts with acutely toxic and carcinogenic aflatoxins. The ecological function of aflatoxin production is not well understood; though not phytotoxic, aflatoxin may be involved in resisting oxidative stress responses from infection or drought stress in plants. Observation of aflatoxin stimulation in 48-well plates in response to increasing inoculated wells sparked an investigation to determine if A. flavus volatiles influence aflatoxin production in neighboring colonies. Experiments controlling several culture conditions demonstrated a stimulation of aflatoxin production with increased well occupancy independent of pH buffer, moisture, or isolate. …

Interactions Among Amygdala Volume, Cortical Thickness, And Structural Connectivity In Youth: Relationship To Emotion Regulation, Peter James Castagna

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Emotion regulation includes adaptive (e.g., reappraisal) and non-adaptive behaviors (e.g., avoidance) designed to alter ones’ affective responses. The central hypothesis is that emotional consciousness – being self-aware that you are currently in a particular emotional state – and emotion regulation share the same underlying brain mechanisms/networks. In addition, it is argued that the more appropriate dichotomy, in regard to non-adaptive and adaptive emotion regulation strategies, is dependent on whether they are unconscious or conscious (respectively), positing a two-system framework of emotion regulation. Evidence for the proposed framework draws and builds off of recent theories of higher-order emotional consciousness (LeDoux & …

A Role For Oncostatin M In The Impairment Of Glucose Homeostasis In Obesity, Irene Piquer-Garcia, Laura Campderros, Siri D. Taxerås, Aleix Gavaldà-Navarro, Rosario Pardo, María Vila, Silvia Pellitero, Eva Martínez, Jordi Tarascó, Pau Moreno, Joan Villarroya, Rubén Cereijo, Lorena González, Marjorie Reyes, Silvia Rodriguez-Fernández, Marta Vives-Pi, Carles Lerin, Carrie M. Elks, Jacqueline M. Stephens, Manel Puig-Domingo, Francesc Villarroya, Josep A. Villena, David Sánchez-Infantes

Faculty Publications

© 2019 Endocrine Society 2019. Context: Oncostatin M (OSM) plays a key role in inflammation, but its regulation and function during obesity is not fully understood. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship of OSM with the inflammatory state that leads to impaired glucose homeostasis in obesity. We also assessed whether OSM immunoneutralization could revert metabolic disturbances caused by a high-fat diet (HFD) in mice. Design: 28 patients with severe obesity were included and stratified into two groups: (1) glucose levels /dL and (2) glucose levels >100 mg/dL. White adipose tissue was obtained to examine OSM …

Reproductive Biology And Trophic Niche Of Hardhead Catfish In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Lucas G. Pensinger

LSU Master's Theses

Generally, marine fishes have very high fecundity with each female producing many small eggs which hatch into small larvae. However, Ariopsis felis, a species of marine catfish common to coastal Louisiana, has low fecundity and produces the largest eggs of the teleost fishes. Despite wide range and generally high abundance, we know very little of A. felis biology and population. The few existing studies of A. felis are older and often have questionable or unclear methodology.

I examined four aspects of A. felis reproductive biology: 1) reproductive timing,

2) fecundity, 3) length at first maturity, and 4) mouth brooding. …

Ageism And Embodied Stereotypes: A Study Of Adult Learners In Community College At Midlife, Marla Jane Erwin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Adult students are generally classified as a single group for study, yet developmental psychologists recognize separate developmental periods during adulthood that suggest adult students at midlife may experience development within higher education differently that younger adult students, in part due to ageism expressed at individual, institutional and internalized levels. This project applies the concept of lifespan developmental periods to distinguish students at midlife as a focus of inquiry using a mixed method design. Twenty-nine faculty and 205 students responded to the Relating to Older People Evalution (ROPE; Cherry & Palmore, 2008) to assess self-reports of both positive and negative ageist …

The First Complete Mitochondrial Genomes Of Sawtail Surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae: Prionurus), William B. Ludt, Luiz A. Rocha, Prosanta Chakrabarty

Faculty Publications

© 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Surgeonfishes of the family Acanthuridae are primarily large-bodied herbivores that provide critical ecosystem services to coral reefs. Five out of the six genera that comprise the family have had mitochondrial genomes sequenced, with the exception of the genus Prionurus. Here, for the first time, we assemble and annotate the mitochondrial genomes of two sawtail surgeonfishes. The circular genomes of P. biafraensis and P. laticlavius are 16,552 bp and 16,531 bp in length, respectively, and contain 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 …

Obesity Medications In Development, Candida J. Rebello, Frank L. Greenway

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Introduction: Obesity is compounded by a neurobiology that is resistant to weight loss. Therefore, the development of pharmacotherapies to address the pathology underlying the dysregulation of energy homeostasis is critical. Areas covered: This review examines selected clinical trial evidence for the pharmacologic treatment of obesity and provides an expert opinion on anti-obesity drug development. The article includes the outcomes of anti-obesity medications that have been evaluated in clinical trials but have not yet received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The mechanisms of action of glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists and co-agonists, diabetes medications being investigated for weight loss, and …

Anthropogenic, Direct Pressures On Coastal Wetlands, A Newton, J Icely, S Cristina, G M. Perillo, A Newton, D Ashan, S Cragg, Y M. Luo, C Tu, Y Li, H B. Zhang, R Ramesh, D L. Forbes, C Solidoro, B Bejaoui, S Gao, R Pastres, H Kelsey, D Taillie, N Nhan, A C. Brito, L I. De, K U. R, C

Faculty Publications

Coastal wetlands, such as saltmarshes and mangroves that fringe transitional waters, deliver important ecosystem services that support human development. Coastal wetlands are complex social-ecological systems that occur at all latitudes, from polar regions to the tropics. This overview covers wetlands in five continents. The wetlands are of varying size, catchment size, human population and stages of economic development. Economic sectors and activities in and around the coastal wetlands and their catchments exert multiple, direct pressures. These pressures affect the state of the wetland environment, ecology and valuable ecosystem services. All the coastal wetlands were found to be affected in some …

Soil Shear Strength Losses In Two Fresh Marshes With Variable Increases In N And P Loading, R. Eugene Turner, Christopher Swarzenski, James E. Bodker

Faculty Publications

We measured soil shear strength (SSS) from 2009 to 2018 in two hydrologically distinct freshwater marshes dominated by Panicum hemitomon after nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) were applied to the surface in spring. The SSS averaged over 100-cm depth in the floating and anchored marshes declined up to 30% throughout the profiles and with no apparent differences in the effects of the low, medium, and high N + P dosing. Plots with only N or P additions exhibited significant changes in SSS at individual depths below 40 cm for the anchored marsh, but not the floating marsh. The average SSS …

Historical Shifts In Benthic Infaunal Diversity In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Since The Appearance Of Seasonally Severe Hypoxia, N.N. Rabalais, M.M. Baustian

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Macrobenthos (Meretrix Meretrix Linnaeus) On Erosion-Accretion Processes In Intertidal Flats: A Case Study From A Cultivation Zone, B. Shi, P.D. Pratolongo, Y. Du, J. Li, S.L. Yang, J. Wu, K. Xu, Y.P. Wang

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Methods For Broad-Scale Plant Phenology Assessments Using Citizen Scientists’ Photographs, Vijay V. Barve, Laura Brenskelle, Daijiang Li, Brian J. Stucky, Narayani V. Barve, Maggie M. Hantak, Bryan S. Mclean, Daniel J. Paluh, Jessica A. Oswald, Michael W. Belitz, Ryan A. Folk, Robert P. Guralnick

Faculty Publications

© 2020 Barve et al. Applications in Plant Sciences is published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the Botanical Society of America Premise: Citizen science platforms for sharing photographed digital vouchers, such as iNaturalist, are a promising source of phenology data, but methods and best practices for use have not been developed. Here we introduce methods using Yucca flowering phenology as a case study, because drivers of Yucca phenology are not well understood despite the need to synchronize flowering with obligate pollinators. There is also evidence of recent anomalous winter flowering events, but with unknown spatiotemporal extents. Methods: We …

Impaired Purine Homeostasis Plays A Primary Role In Trimethoprim-Mediated Induction Of Virulence Genes In Burkholderia Thailandensis, Sudarshan S. Thapa, Anne Grove

Faculty Publications

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd One of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics against Burkholderia infections is co-trimoxazole, a cocktail of trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. Trimethoprim elicits an upregulation of the mal gene cluster, which encodes proteins involved in synthesis of the cytotoxic polyketide malleilactone; trimethoprim does so by increasing expression of the malR gene, which encodes the activator MalR. We report that B. thailandensis grown on trimethoprim exhibited increased virulence against Caenorhabditis elegans. This enhanced virulence correlated with an increase in expression of the mal gene cluster. Notably, inhibition of xanthine dehydrogenase by addition of allopurinol led to similar …

Modeling The Effects Of Trait-Mediated Dispersal On Coexistence Of Mutualists, James T. Cronin, Jerome Goddard, Amila Muthunayake, Ratnasingham Shivaji

Faculty Publications

© 2020 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Even though mutualistic interactions are ubiquitous in nature, we are still far from making good predictions about the fate of mutualistic communities under threats such as habitat fragmentation and climate change. Fragmentation often causes declines in abundance of a species due to increased susceptibility to edge effects between remnant habitat patches and lower quality “matrix” surrounding these focal patches. It has been argued that ecological communities are replete with trait-mediated indirect effects, and that these effects …

Modeling The Effects Of Density Dependent Emigration, Weak Allee Effects, And Matrix Hostility On Patch-Level Population Persistence, James T. Cronin, Nalin Fonseka, Jerome Goddard, Jackson Leonard, Ratnasingham Shivaji

Faculty Publications

© 2020 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) The relationship between conspecific density and the probability of emigrating from a patch can play an essential role in determining the population-dynamic consequences of an Allee effect. In this paper, we model a population that inside a patch is diffusing and growing according to a weak Allee effect per-capita growth rate, but the emigration probability is dependent on conspecific density. The habitat patch is one-dimensional and is surrounded by a tuneable hostile matrix. We consider five …

Taxonomic Resolution Affects Host-Parasite Association Model Performance, Tad A. Dallas, Daniel J. Becker

Faculty Publications

© 2020 Georg Thieme Verlag. All rights reserved. Identifying the factors that structure host-parasite interactions is fundamental to understand the drivers of species distributions and to predict novel cross-species transmission events. More phylogenetically related host species tend to have more similar parasite associations, but parasite specificity may vary as a function of transmission mode, parasite taxonomy, or life history. Accordingly, analyses that attempt to infer host-parasite associations using combined data on different parasite groups may perform quite differently relative to analyses on each parasite subset. In essence, are more data always better when predicting host-parasite associations, or does parasite taxonomic …

Behavioral, Morphological, And Ecological Trait Evolution In Two Clades Of New World Sparrows (Aimophila And Peucaea, Passerellidae), Carla Cicero, Nicholas A. Mason, Lauryn Benedict, James D. Rising

Faculty Publications

Copyright 2020 Cicero et al. The New World sparrows (Passerellidae) are a large, diverse group of songbirds that vary in morphology, behavior, and ecology. Thus, they are excellent for studying trait evolution in a phylogenetic framework. We examined lability versus conservatism in morphological and behavioral traits in two related clades of sparrows (Aimophila, Peucaea), and assessed whether habitat has played an important role in trait evolution. We first inferred a multi-locus phylogeny which we used to reconstruct ancestral states, and then quantified phylogenetic signal among morphological and behavioral traits in these clades and in New World sparrows more broadly. Behavioral …

The Extended Specimen Network: A Strategy To Enhance Us Biodiversity Collections, Promote Research And Education, James Lendemer, Barbara Thiers, Anna K. Monfils, Jennifer Zaspel, Elizabeth R. Ellwood, Andrew Bentley, Katherine Levan, John Bates, David Jennings, Dori Contreras, Laura Lagomarsino, Paula Mabee, Linda S. Ford, Robert Guralnick, Robert E. Gropp, Marcy Revelez, Neil Cobb, Katja Seltmann, M. Catherine Aime

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Improving Natural Product Research Translation: From Source To Clinical Trial, Barbara C. Sorkin, Adam J. Kuszak, Gregory Bloss, Naomi K. Fukagawa, Freddie Ann Hoffman, Mahtab Jafari, Bruce Barrett, Paula N. Brown, Frederic D. Bushman, Steven J. Casper, Floyd H. Chilton, Christopher S. Coffey, Mario G. Ferruzzi, D. Craig Hopp, Mairead Kiely, Daniel Lakens, John B. Macmillan, David O. Meltzer, Marco Pahor, Jeffrey Paul, Kathleen Pritchett-Corning, Sara K. Quinney, Barbara Rehermann, Kenneth D.R. Setchell, Nisha S. Sipes, Jacqueline M. Stephens, D. Lansing Taylor, Hervé Tiriac, Michael A. Walters, Dan Xi, Giovanna Zappalá, Guido F. Pauli

Faculty Publications

© 2019 Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology While great interest in health effects of natural product (NP) including dietary supplements and foods persists, promising preclinical NP research is not consistently translating into actionable clinical trial (CT) outcomes. Generally considered the gold standard for assessing safety and efficacy, CTs, especially phase III CTs, are costly and require rigorous planning to optimize the value of the information obtained. More effective bridging from NP research to CT was the goal of a September, 2018 transdisciplinary workshop. Participants emphasized that replicability and likelihood of successful translation depend on rigor in experimental design, …

Novel Resistant Starch Type 4 Products Of Different Starch Origins, Production Methods, And Amounts Are Not Equally Fermented When Fed To Sprague-Dawley Rats, Diana B. Coulon, Ryan Page, Anne M. Raggio, Justin Guice, Brain Marx, Vishnupriya Gourineni, Maria L. Stewart, Michael J. Keenan

Faculty Publications

© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Scope: The possible mechanisms of production of four novel resistant starch type 4 (RS4) products for total cecal fermentation in an in vivo rodent model are evaluated. Methods and results: Forty weanling rats are randomly assigned to five groups (n = 8) for a 3-week study. Starches are the RS type 4 products, as 10% of weight of RS diets (RSA–RSD), and AMIOCA starch (100% amylopectin) comprises 53.6% weight of control (CON) and 43.6% weight of RS diets. The RS products vary by percent purity and origin (potato, corn, tapioca). At …

The Landscape Of Accessible Chromatin In Bovine Oocytes And Early Embryos, Hao Ming, Jiangwen Sun, Rolando Pasquariello, Lauren Gatenby, Jason Herrick, Ye Yuan, Carlos Pinto, Kenneth R. Bondioli, Rebecca L. Krisher, Zongliang Jiang

Faculty Publications

© 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Chromatin reorganization governs the regulation of gene expression during preimplantation development. However, the landscape of chromatin dynamics in this period has not been explored in bovine. In this study, we constructed a genome-wide map of accessible chromatin in bovine oocytes and early embryos using an improved assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq) which revealed unique features of the accessible chromatin during bovine early embryo development. We found that chromatin accessibility is low in oocytes and 2-/4-cell embryos, followed by a significant increase in embryos during …

Novel Resistant Starch Type 4 Products Of Different Starch Origins, Production Methods, And Amounts Are Not Equally Fermented When Fed To Sprague-Dawley Rats, Diana B. Coulon, Ryan Page, Anne M. Raggio, Justin Guice, Brain Marx, Vishnupriya Gourineni, Maria L. Stewart, Michael J. Keenan

Faculty Publications

© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Scope: The possible mechanisms of production of four novel resistant starch type 4 (RS4) products for total cecal fermentation in an in vivo rodent model are evaluated. Methods and results: Forty weanling rats are randomly assigned to five groups (n = 8) for a 3-week study. Starches are the RS type 4 products, as 10% of weight of RS diets (RSA–RSD), and AMIOCA starch (100% amylopectin) comprises 53.6% weight of control (CON) and 43.6% weight of RS diets. The RS products vary by percent purity and origin (potato, corn, tapioca). At …

The Landscape Of Accessible Chromatin In Bovine Oocytes And Early Embryos, Hao Ming, Jiangwen Sun, Rolando Pasquariello, Lauren Gatenby, Jason Herrick, Ye Yuan, Carlos Pinto, Kenneth R. Bondioli, Rebecca L. Krisher, Zongliang Jiang

Faculty Publications

© 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Chromatin reorganization governs the regulation of gene expression during preimplantation development. However, the landscape of chromatin dynamics in this period has not been explored in bovine. In this study, we constructed a genome-wide map of accessible chromatin in bovine oocytes and early embryos using an improved assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq) which revealed unique features of the accessible chromatin during bovine early embryo development. We found that chromatin accessibility is low in oocytes and 2-/4-cell embryos, followed by a significant increase in embryos during …

Phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae) From A Urban Park Of Belém, Pará State, Northern Brazil And Potential Implications In The Transmission Of American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Yetsenia D.V. Sánchez Uzcátegui, Thiago Vasconcelos Dos Santos, Fernando T. Silveira, Patricia K.S. Ramos, Eduardo José M. Dos Santos, Marinete M. Póvoa, Lane Foil

Faculty Publications

© 2019 The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. In urban ecotourism parks, the life cycle of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) agents can remain established, where phlebotomines may comprise potential risks for visitors. The present study aimed to survey the phlebotomine fauna of a forest park 'Bosque Rodriques Alves-Jardim Botânico da Amazônia' (BRAJBA), in the urban area of Belém, Brazil. The park was monthly surveyed in 2018 using CDC light traps placed in ground and canopy strata. Leishmania spp. isolated from dissected females were characterized by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism …

Tropism, Pathology, And Transmission Of Equine Parvovirus-Hepatitis, Joy Ellen Tomlinson, Mason Jager, Alyssa Struzyna, Melissa Laverack, Lisa Ann Fortier, Edward Dubovi, Lane D. Foil, Peter D. Burbelo, Thomas J. Divers, Gerlinde R. Van De Walle

Faculty Publications

© 2020, © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group, on behalf of Shanghai Shangyixun Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. Equine parvovirus-hepatitis (EqPV-H) has recently been associated with cases of Theiler's disease, a form of fulminant hepatic necrosis in horses. To assess whether EqPV-H is the cause of Theiler's disease, we first demonstrated hepatotropism by PCR on tissues from acutely infected horses. We then experimentally inoculated horses with EqPV-H and 8 of 10 horses developed hepatitis. One horse showed clinical signs of liver failure. The onset of hepatitis was temporally associated with seroconversion and …

Response Of Liver Metabolic Pathways To Ketogenic Diet And Exercise Are Not Additive, Tai Yu Huang, Felicia R. Goldsmith, Scott E. Fuller, Jacob Simon, Heidi M. Batdorf, Matthew C. Scott, Nabil M. Essajee, John M. Brown, David H. Burk, Christopher D. Morrison, Susan J. Burke, J. Jason Collier, Robert C. Noland

Faculty Publications

© Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Purpose Studies suggest ketogenic diets (KD) produce favorable outcomes (health and exercise performance); however, most rodent studies have used a low-protein KD, which does not reflect the normal- to high-protein KD used by humans. Liver has an important role in ketoadaptation due to its involvement in gluconeogenesis and ketogenesis. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that exercise training (ExTr) while consuming a normal-protein KD (NPKD) would induce additive/synergistic responses in liver metabolic pathways. Methods Lean, healthy male C57BL/6J mice were fed a low-fat control diet (15.9% kcal protein, 11.9% kcal fat, 72.2% kcal …

Evidence That Hindbrain Astrocytes In The Rat Detect Low Glucose With A Glucose Transporter 2-Phospholipase C-Calcium Release Mechanism, Richard C. Rogers, Susan J. Burke, J. Jason Collier, Sue Ritter, Gerlinda E. Hermann

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Astrocytes generate robust cytoplasmic calcium signals in response to reductions in extracellular glucose. This calcium signal, in turn, drives purinergic gliotransmission, which controls the activity of catecholaminergic (CA) neurons in the hindbrain. These CA neurons are critical to triggering glucose counter-regulatory responses (CRRs) that, ultimately, restore glucose homeostasis via endocrine and behavioral means. Although the astrocyte low-glucose sensor involvement in CRR has been accepted, it is not clear how astrocytes produce an increase in intracellular calcium in response to a decrease in glucose. Our ex vivo calcium imaging studies of hindbrain astrocytes show that the glucose type 2 transporter (GLUT2) …