Digital Commons Network^™

To What Extent Does Transcendental Meditation (Tm) Relieve Symptoms In Patients With Ptsd?, Sanya Dhami

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that is currently increasing among the general public. Unfortunately, researchers have yet to find an effective treatment. Due to the lack of treatment, Transcendental Meditation has become a popular option and may potentially be an alternative treatment therapy. The aim of this paper is to investigate the extent to which Transcendental Meditation (TM) relieves symptoms in patients with PTSD by analyzing brain activity. A comparison was also made between traditionally used PTSD therapies and TM. Because the research regarding this topic is relatively new and was more heavily focused on patients with …

A Comparison Of Corrosion Potential, Installation, Maintenance, And Anti-Microbial Efficacy: Copper Combined With A Polymer Matrix Or Stainless Steel For Use In A Hospital Setting, Barika Mirza

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

According to Boev and Kiss in their article, “Hospital-Acquired Infections,” hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), also known as nosocomial infections, are currently the leading cause of deaths and disability in hospitalized patients (2017, p. 51), so they cost both patients and hospitals a lot of money. As of right now, QualityNet reports on their “Scoring Methodology” page that Obamacare’s Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program requires for hospitals with high cases of HACs to be subject to a reduction of Medicare payments (n.d.). The World Health Organization explains in Prevention of hospital-acquired infections: A practical guide, 2nd edition that HAIs can be acquired …

Conservative Colonization: An Ethical Analysis Of Galactic Expansion, Parker Vesely

UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

Space: the final frontier. Humanity has long held a fond appreciation for this vast unknown, and it has been featured in both art and academia since the dawn of time. Scientific knowledge of both the Earth and the solar system have greatly advanced in the last seventy years since humanity launched its first object, a German V-2 rocket, into the atmosphere. This obsessive curiosity did not cease with the Lunar Landing, but instead increased ten-fold with dreams of extraterrestrial life and extraterrestrial living. As the day humans will set foot on Mars steadily approaches, humankind faces a daunting dilemma: how …

Environmental Mycobacterium Avium Subsp. Paratuberculosis Hosted By Free-Living Amoebea, Ascel Samba-Louaka, Etienne Robino, Thierry Cochard, Maxime Branger, Vincent Delafont, Willy Aucher, Wilfrid Wambeke, John Bannantine, Franck Biet, Yann Héchard

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis is responsible for paratuberculosis in animals. This disease, leading to an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, has a high impact on animal health and an important economic burden. The environmental life cycle of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis is poorly understood and several studies suggest that free-living amoebae (FLA) might be a potential environmental host. FLA are protozoa found in water and soil that are described as reservoirs of pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria in the environment. Indeed, bacteria able to survive within these amoebae would survive phagocytosis from immune cells. In this study, we assessed the in …

Primer Registro De Omosita Colon (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Nitidulinae) Recolectada En Cadáveres De Cabrito (Capra Aegagrus Hircus Linnaeus) En Buenavista, Saltillo Coahuila, México, Hermelindo Hernádez-Torres, Oswaldo García-Martínez, Isabel Salazar-García, Luis Alberto Aguirre-Uribe, Sergio Rene Sánchez-Peña

Insecta Mundi

Adultos de Omosita colon (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Nitidulinae) recolectados sobre cadáveres del cabrito (Capra aegagrus hircus (Linnaeus)) en las etapas de post-descomposición y esqueletonización, representa el primer reporte de esta especie en carroña para Saltillo, Coahuila, México. Para esta región de México se sugiere a O. colon como un indicador potencial en la entomología forense para determinar el periodo en que una persona o animal fallecen. Se presenta una descripción general del género y características taxonómicas de la especie para su identificación.

Adults of Omosita colon (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Nitidulinae), collected on goat (Capra aegagrus hircus (Linnaeus)) carcasses …

Description Of Two New Bolivian Cerambycidae And A Costa Rican Record For An African Prionine (Coleoptera), James E. Wappes, Antonio Santos-Silva, Maria Helena M. Galileo

Insecta Mundi

Two new species of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) are described from Bolivia: Compsibidion woodleyi Wappes, Santos-Silva and Galileo (Cerambycinae: Neoibidionina): and Drycothaea dozieri Wappes, Santos-Silva and Galileo (Lamiinae: Calliini). Illustrations of the new species are included. Mallodon downesii Hope, 1843 (Prioninae: Macrotomini) is reported for the first time in Costa Rica.

Establishment Of A Human Ipsc- And Nanofiber-Based Microphysiological Blood–Brain Barrier System, Dianjun Qi, Shaohua Wu, Haishuang Lin, Mitchell A. Kuss, Yuguo Lei, Alexey Krasnoslobodtsev, Shaheen Ahmed, Chi Zhang, Hyung Joon Kim, Peng Jiang, Bin Duan

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is an active and complex diffusion barrier that separates the circulating blood from the brain and extracellular fluid, regulates nutrient transportation, and provides protection against various toxic compounds and pathogens. Creating an in vitro microphysiological BBB system, particularly with relevant human cell types, will significantly facilitate the research of neuropharmaceutical drug delivery, screening, and transport, as well as improve our understanding of pathologies that are due to BBB damage. Currently, most of the in vitro BBB models are generated by culturing rodent astrocytes and endothelial cells, using commercially available transwell membranes. Those membranes are made of …

Scalable And Physiologically Relevant Microenvironments For Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Expansion And Differentiation, Qiang Li, Haishuang Lin, Qian Du, Kan Liu, Ou Wang, Catelyn Evans, Hannah Christian, Chi Zhang, Yuguo Lei

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are required in large numbers for various biomedical applications. However, the scalable and cost-effective culturing of high quality hPSCs and their derivatives remains very challenging. Here, we report a novel and physiologically relevant 3D culture system (called the AlgTube cell culture system) for hPSC expansion and differentiation. With this system, cells are processed into and cultured in microscale alginate hydrogel tubes that are suspended in the cell culture medium in a culture vessel. The hydrogel tubes protect cells from hydrodynamic stresses in the culture vessel and limit the cell mass smaller than 400 μmin diameter …

Reductive Cleavage Of Organic Peroxides By Iron Salts And Thiols, Anderw Olson, Abigail J. Jameson, Shiva K. Kyasa, Boone W. Evans, Patrick H. Dussault

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

Despite the low bond strength of the oxygen− oxygen bond, organic peroxides are often surprisingly resistant to cleavage by nucleophiles and reductants. As a result, achieving decomposition under mild conditions can be challenging. Herein, we explore the reactivity of a selection of peroxides toward thiolates, phenyl selenide, Fe(II) salts, and iron thiolates. Peroxides activated by conjugation, strain, or stereoelectronics are rapidly cleaved at room temperature by thiolate anions, phenylselenide, or Fe(II) salts. Under the same conditions, unhindered dialkyl peroxides are only marginally reactive; hindered peroxides, including triacetone triperoxide and diacetone diperoxide (DADP), are inert. In contrast, all but the most …

Agroforestry Standards For Regenerative Agriculture [Review], Craig R. Elevitch, D. Niki Mazaroli, Diane Ragone

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Agroforestry is increasingly being recognized as a holistic food production system that can have numerous significant environmental, economic, and social benefits. This growing recognition is paralleled in the USA by the budding interest in regenerative agriculture and motivation to certify regenerative practices. Current efforts to develop a regenerative agriculture certification offer an opportunity to consider agroforestry’s role in furthering regenerative goals. To understand this opportunity, we first examine how agroforestry practices can advance regenerative agriculture’s five core environmental concerns: soil fertility and health, water quality, biodiversity, ecosystem health, and carbon sequestration. Next, we review a subset of certification programs, standards, …

Distance Models As A Tool For Modelling Detection Probability And Density Of Native Bumblebees, Darin J. Mcneil, Clint R. V. Otto, Erin L. Moser, Katherine R. Urban‐Mead, David E. King, Amanda D. Rodewald, Jeffery L. Larkin

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Effective monitoring of native bee populations requires accurate estimates of population size and relative abundance among habitats. Current bee survey methods, such as netting or pan trapping, may be adequate for a variety of study objectives but are limited by a failure to account for imperfect detection. Biases due to imperfect detection could result in inaccurate abundance estimates or erroneous insights about the response of bees to different environments. To gauge the potential biases of currently employed survey methods, we compared abundance estimates of bumblebees (Bombus spp.) derived from hierarchical distance sampling models (HDS) to bumblebee counts collected from fixed‐area …

Kit 16: Children's Library Kit, Lauren Segreto

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

Kit 16A- Insect Adaptation This kit serves as an introduction to a variety of insect adaptations. Learn about how insects adjust to their environment with this selection of images and sounds of various insects. Insects communicate with sound, with visuals, they walk, run, fly, and sometimes even swim, some insects are capable of camouflage, and others are pollinators. This kit provides a book focusing on the chirping of crickets, the reasons they chirp, as well as how they do it as well as a variety of pictures of other insects and their different adaptations that allow then to survive in …

Mosquito Abatement Monitoring: West Nile In Los Angeles County, Elisa Gonzalez

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

West Nile virus (WNV) has become established across the U.S. with heightened activity causing significant human illness. Monitoring methods to predict the risk of human infection are urgently need to initiate timely preventative measures and justify the expense of implementing costly or unpopular control measures, such as aerial spraying or curfews. This research outlines several ways to further improve the productive power of monitoring mosquitoes. These results demonstrate that mosquito monitoring provides a valuable public health tool for assessing the risk of human arboviral infections, allocating limited public health resources, and justifying emergency control actions.

A key challenge has been …

Mimicry In Insects: An Illustrated Study In Mimicry And Cryptic Coloration In Insects, Merrie Schultz

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

INSECT MIMICRY 4

WHAT IS MIMICRY? 5

MÜLLERIAN MIMICRY 7

MÜLLERIAN MIMICRY 8

YELLOWJACKET – VESPULA SPP. 9

HONEY BEE – APIS SPP. 10

BUMBLE BEE – BOMBUS SPP. 11

VELVET ANT (COW KILLER) – DASYMUTILLA OCCIDENTALIS 12

BLISTER BEETLE – EUPOMPHA ELEGANS 13

THREAD-WAISTED WASP – AMMOPHILA SPP. 14

MONARCH BUTTERFLY – DANAUS PLEXIPPUS 15

VICEROY BUTTERFLY – LIMENTIS SPP. 16

BATESIAN MIMICRY 17

BATESIAN MIMICRY 18

METALLIC WOODBORING BEETLE – ACMAEODERA SPP. 19

WASP BEETLE – CLYTUS SPP. 20

FLOWER LONGHORN BEETLE – TYPOCERUS SPP. 21

BEE BEETLE – TRICHIUS SPP. 22

BEE FLY – BOMBYLIUS SPP. 23 …

Integrated Pest Management Plan, Bryon Kacprzyk

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

This Integrated Pest Management Plan is to provide a framework through which pest management is defined and accomplished in northern Lowndes County in Georgia and focusing on Moody AFB. The plan identifies elements of the program to include health, environmental protection, safety, training, pest identification and pest management. This plan is to be used as a tool to reduce pesticide use, enhance environmental protection, and maximize the use of integrated pest management techniques. The overall objective of the program is to provide guidance for operating an effective pest management program. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles are stressed and application of …

Understanding And Controlling The Red Legged Ham Beetle (Necropia Rufipes), Alexandria Hammel

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

The Red Legged Ham Beetle (Necrobia rufipes), RLHB has fascinated me since the moment we met. The beautiful greens and blues that sparkle from its elytra, the sharp and fast red legs that flash just below the body and just last month I was able to see a RLHB in flight for the first time. My squeal of delight was not left un-mocked by my coworkers. This beetle is a detrimental and determined stored product pest. One that, we in the pet food business, don’t take lightly. This generated a need for control in warehousing as distribution but …

Let’S Go Find A Bug, Jonathan Mcghee

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

The insect world is largely a mystery to many people. In fact, large parts of the insect world are mysteries to even those that study them. With the help of an extraordinary camera man, a vision, and the spirit of adventure, we set off on an endeavor to bring the minute insect world to the everyday person. Please join us as we capture a small amount of the biodiversity of Southern California and bring it right to your front door. Let’s go find a bug.

Tellurite Resistance In Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli , Gentry L. Lewis, Quentin R. Jorgensen, John Dustin Loy, Rodney A. Moxley

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Potassium tellurite ( K₂TeO₃) is an effective selective agent for O157:H7 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), whereas tellurite resistance in non-O157 STEC is variable with information on O45 minimal. High-level K₂TeO₃ resistance in STEC is attributable to the ter gene cluster with terD an indicator of the cluster’s presence. Polymerase chain reactions for terD and K₂TeO₃ minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determinations in broth cultures were conducted on 70 STEC and 40 non-STEC control organisms. Sixty-six STEC strains (94.3%) were terD+ compared to 28 control organisms (70.0%; P < 0.001). The prevalence of terD in …

Epitope Mapping Of Serca2a Identifies An Antigenic Determinant That Induces Mainly Atrial Myocarditis In A/J Mice, Bharathi Krishnan, Chandirasegara Massilamany, Rakesh H. Basavalingappa, Arunakumar Gangaplara, Rajkumar Rajasekaran, Muhammad Z. Afzal, Vahid Khalilzad-Sharghi, You Zhou, Jean-Jack Riethoven, Shyam S. Nandi, Paras K. Mishra, Raymond A. Sobel, Jennifer L. Strande, David Steffen, Jay Reddy

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺ adenosine triphosphatase (SERCA)2a, a critical regulator of calcium homeostasis, is known to be decreased in heart failure. Patients with myocarditis or dilated cardiomyopathy develop autoantibodies to SERCA2a suggesting that they may have pathogenetic significance. In this report, we describe epitope mapping analysis of SERCA2a in A/J mice that leads us to make five observations: 1) SERCA2a contains multiple T cell epitopes that induce varying degrees of myocarditis. One epitope, SERCA2a 971–990, induces widespread atrial inflammation without affecting noncardiac tissues; the cardiac abnormalities could be noninvasively captured by echocardiography, electrocardiography, and magnetic resonance microscopy imaging. 2) SERCA2a …

Vegetation Responses To Sagebrush-Reduction Treatments Measured By Satellites, Aaron N. Johnston, Erik A. Beever, Jerod A. Merkle, Geneva Chong

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Time series of vegetative indices derived from satellite imagery constitute tools to measure ecological effects of natural and management-induced disturbances to ecosystems. Over the past century, sagebrush-reduction treatments have been applied widely throughout western North America to increase herbaceous vegetation for livestock and wildlife. We used indices from satellite imagery to 1) quantify effects of prescribed-fire, herbicide, and mechanical treatments on vegetative cover, productivity, and phenology, and 2) describe how vegetation changed over time following these treatments. We hypothesized that treatments would increase herbaceous cover and accordingly shift phenologies towards those typical of grass-dominated systems. We expected prescribed burns would …

Mindfulness Training For Judges: Mind Wandering And The Development Of Cognitive Resilience, Scott L. Rogers, Chris Mcaliley, Amishi P. Jha

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

The benefits of mindfulness practices for lawyers have been the subject of broad discussion within the profession for a number of years. Increasingly, this discussion has expanded to include judges and the work of the judiciary. In this article we explore more deeply the relevance of mindfulness to judges, and in particular, how it can support their resilience, health, and well-being, as well as their cognitive functioning.

We hope to educate and support judges who would like to gain greater mastery over their cognitive capacity and emotional well-being. Recognizing that the full breadth of this subject is beyond an article …

Evaluating Restored Tidal Freshwater Wetlands, Andrew H. Baldwin1,, Richard S. Hammerschlag, Donald R. Cahoon

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Tidal freshwater wetlands are recognized as highly productive coastal wetlands that support diverse assemblages of plants and animals and complex biogeochemical cycles (in this book, see Chapter 18 by Whigham et al. and Chapter 19 by Megonigal and Neubauer). Many tidal freshwater wetlands and their associated ecosystem services have been damaged or destroyed by urbanization, agriculture, and other human activities (Baldwin, 2004; Barendregt et al., 2006). Increasing recognition of the value of remaining wetlands and environmental regulations requiring wetland mitigation (i.e., enhancement, creation, or restoration of wetlands to compensate for wetland losses; Kentula, 2000) has driven the restoration of all …

Evaluating The Waterfowl Breeding Population And Habitat Survey For Scaup, Michael L. Schummer, Alan D. Afton, Shannon S. Badzinski, Scott A. Petrie, Glenn H. Olsen, Mark A. Mitchell

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Potential bias in breeding population estimates of certain duck species from the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey (WBPHS) has been a concern for decades. The WBPHS does not differentiate between lesser (Aythya affinis) and greater (A. marila) scaup, but lesser scaup comprise 89% of the combined scaup population and their population estimates are suspected to be biased. We marked female lesser scaup (i.e., marked scaup) in the Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways, Canada and United States, with implantable satellite transmitters to track their spring migration through the traditional and eastern survey areas of the WBPHS, 2005–2010. Our goal was to …

Alkaline Stabilization Of Manure Slurry Inactivates Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus, Erin E. Stevens, Daniel N. Miller, Bethany A. Brittenham, Sarah J. Vitosh-Sillman, Bruce W. Brodersen, Virginia L. Jin, John D. Loy, Amy M. Schmidt

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Hydrated lime manure treatment was evaluated to determine porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) susceptibility to alkaline stabilization. At pH 10, PEDV decreased (quantitative polymerase chain reaction) and lost infectivity (swine bioassay). Although ammonium decreased above pH 9 (up to 25%), alkaline stabilization managed to control potential infection from manure sources.

Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry Identification Of Moraxella Bovoculi And Moraxella Bovis Isolates From Cattle, Kara Robbins, Aaron M. Dickey, Michael L. Clawson, John Dustin Loy

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) is an economically significant disease caused by Moraxella bovis. Moraxella bovoculi, although not reported to cause IBK, has been isolated from the eyes of cattle diagnosed with IBK. Identification of M. bovis and M. bovoculi can be performed using biochemical or DNA-based approaches, both of which may be time consuming and inconsistent between laboratories. We conducted a comparative evaluation of M. bovoculi and M. bovis identification using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) with a database provided by Bruker Daltonics (termed the BDAL database), the BDAL database supplemented with spectra generated in …

Development Of A Multiplex Real-Time Pcr Assay Using Two Thermocycling Platforms For Detection Of Major Bacterial Pathogens Associated With Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex From Clinical Samples, John Dustin Loy, Laura Leger, Aspen M. Workman, Michael L. Clawson, Ece Bulut, Bing Wang

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) is one of the most significant diseases of cattle. Bacterial pathogens involved in BRDC include Mannheimia haemolytica, Mycoplasma bovis, Histophilus somni, and Pasteurella multocida. We developed and evaluated a multiplexed real-time hydrolysis probe (rtPCR) assay using block-based Peltier and rotary-based thermocycling on lung tissue, nasal swabs, and deep nasopharyngeal swabs. The rtPCR results were compared to culture or a gel-based M. bovis PCR using statistical analysis to determine optimum quantification cycle (Cq) cutoffs to maximize agreement. The limits of detection were 1.2–12 CFU/reaction for each pathogen. M. haemolytica was the most prevalent organism detected …

Coordinated Regulation Of Transcription By Ccpa And The Staphylococcus Aureus Twocomponent System Hptrs, Joseph M. Reed, Sean Olson, Danielle F. Brees, Caitlin E. Griffin, Ryan A. Grove, Paul J. Davis, Stephen D. Kachman, Jiri Adamec, Greg A. Somerville

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The success of Staphylococcus aureus as a pathogen is due in part to its ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions using signal transduction pathways, such as metaboliteresponsive regulators and two-component systems. S. aureus has a two-component system encoded by the gene pair sav0224 (hptS) and sav0223 (hptR) that regulate the hexose phosphate transport (uhpT) system in response to extracellular glucose-6-phosphate. Glycolytic intermediates such as glucose-6-phosphate are important carbon sources that also modulate the activity of the global metabolite-responsive transcriptional regulator CcpA. Because uhpT has a putative CcpA binding site in its promoter and …

Novel Docosahexaenoic Acid Ester Of Phloridzin Inhibits Proliferation And Triggers Apoptosis In An In Vitro Model Of Skin Cancer, Theodora Mantso, Dimitrios T. Trafalis, Sotiris Botaitis, Rodrigo Franco, Aglaia Pappa, H. P. Vasantha Rupasinghe, Mihalis I. Panayiotidis

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Skin cancer is among the most common cancer types accompanied by rapidly increasing incidence rates, thus making the development of more efficient therapeutic approaches a necessity. Recent studies have revealed the potential role of decosahexaenoic acid ester of phloridzin (PZDHA) in suppressing proliferation of liver, breast, and blood cancer cell lines. In the present study, we investigated the cytotoxic potential of PZDHA in an in vitro model of skin cancer consisting of melanoma (A375), epidermoid carcinoma (A431), and non-tumorigenic (HaCaT) cell lines. Decosahexaenoic acid ester of phloridzin led to increased cytotoxicity in all cell lines as revealed by cell viability …

Whole Genome Sequencing Of Moraxella Bovoculi Reveals High Genetic Diversity And Evidence For Interspecies Recombination At Multiple Loci, Aaron M. Dickey, Gennie Schuller, John D. Loy, Michael L. Clawson

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Moraxella bovoculi is frequently cultured from the ocular secretions and conjunctiva of cattle with Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis (IBK). Previous work has shown that single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) diversity in this species is quite high with 81,284 SNPs identified in eight genomes representing two distinct genotypes isolated from IBK affected eyes (genotype 1) and the nasopharynx of cattle without clinical IBK signs (genotype 2), respectively. The goals of this study were to identify SNPs from a collection of geographically diverse and epidemiologically unlinked M. bovoculi strains from the eyes of IBK positive cattle (n = 183) and another from the eyes …

Differential Modulation Of Human Gabac‑Ρ1 Receptor By Sulfur‑Containing Compounds Structurally Related To Taurine, Lenin David Ochoa‑De La Paz, Martin González‑Andrade, Herminia Pasantes‑Morales, Rodrigo Franco, Rubén Zamora‑Alvarado, Edgar Zenteno, Hugo Quiroz‑Mercado, Roberto Gonzales‑Salinas, Rosario Gulias‑Cañizo

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: The amino acid taurine (2-Aminoethanesulfonic acid) modulates inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors. This study aimed to determine if the dual action of taurine on GABAC- ρ1R relates to its structure. To address this, we tested the ability of the structurally related compounds homotaurine, hypotaurine, and isethionic acid to modulate GABAC- ρ1R.

Results: In Xenopus laevis oocytes, hypotaurine and homotaurine partially activate heterologously expressed GABAC- ρ1R, showing an increment in its deactivation time with no changes in channel permeability, whereas isethionic acid showed no effect. Competitive assays suggest that hypotaurine and homotaurine compete for the GABA-binding site. In addition, their effects were …