pharmphys

Mary Ellsworth, PhD

Dr. Daniela Salvemini has been awarded a NIH/NIDA R21 grant for $392,325 entitled "Role of ceramide in morphine hyperalgesia and tolerance".
 
The objectives of this exploratory grant proposal are to elucidate the roles of sphingolipids in the development of analgesic tolerance following repeated use of opiates such as morphine. The broader objectives are to determine whether pharmacological manipulation of the pathways leading to the biosynthesis of various sphingolipids such as ceramide offer an attractive therapeutic target for pain management.

Dr. Christian Lemon was in Portorož, Slovenia where he gave an invited symposium presentation on recent work from his lab on how taste circuitry in the brain registers information about sweet taste.  The presentation was delivered at the 27th annual Congress of the European Chemoreception Research Organization. 

Dr. Rick Samson was in Finland where he presented his lab's discovery of a new peptide hormone and the initial characterization of its biological activity the work at the University of Oulu School of Medicine during the annual meeting of the Scandanavian Physiological Society. Dr. Samson is now in Brazil where he presented the discovery at the annual meeting of the Federation of Brazilian Societies for Experimental Biology in Aquas de Lindoia, and at the University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine in Ribeirao Preto. Dr. Samson will also travel to Japan in October to present the work at the annual meeting of the Japanese Society for the Study of Obesity, in Oita City.

Graduate Student, Johnnie Moore was awarded a Minority Biophysicists Travel Grant to the joint 52nd Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society and IRPAB International Biophysics Congress that will be held February 2-6, 2008, in Long Beach, California.

Graduate Student, Madelyn Hanson is the recipient of the Microcirculatory Society's 2008 Zweifach Student Travel Award.

Graduate Student, Sarah Burris was the recipient of a travel award for the American Physiological Society (APS) Professional Skills Training Workshop, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Summer research conference (Australia).

Graduate Student, Madelyn Hanson, is winner of the Student Poster Competition at the 15th Annual Cardiovascular Day, University of Missouri-Columbia.

Dr. Thomas Westfall was recently elected to the Advisory Board for the Council of Academic Societies (CAS). CAS is one of the three Councils that make up the Association of American Medical Colleges. CAS consists of 96 professional societies and Chairs Organizations. The Advisory Board of CAS acts as the Executive Committee for the Organization.

Andrew Lechner, Ph.D. was awarded The School of Medicine Distinguished Teacher Award in Humanism (Basic Science)

Samways DS, Khakh BS, Egan TM (2008) Tunable calcium current through TRPV1 receptor channels. J Biol Chem. [epub ahead of publication; PMID: 18775990].

Christopher J. Price, Willis K. Samson, Alastair V. Ferguson. Nesfatin-1 inhibits NPY neurons in the arcuate nucleus. Brain Res.1230:99-106, 2008.

Drobysheva, D., Ameel, K., Welch, B., Ellison, E., Chaichana, K., Hoang, B., Sharma, S., Neckameyer, W., Sinakevitch, I., Murphy, K., and Schmid, S. An optimized method for histological detection of dopaminergic neurons in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Histochemistry & Cytochemistry, in press.

Bowling, K., Huang, Z., Xu, D., Funderburk, C., Karnik, N., Ferdousy, F., Neckameyer, W. and O'Donnell, J. Direct binding of GTP cyclohydrolase and tyrosine hydroxylase: regulatory interactions between key enzymes in dopamine biosynthesis. J. Biol. Chem., in press.

Neckameyer, W. and Matsuo, H. Distinct neural circuits reflect sex, sexual maturity, and reproductive status in response to stress in Drosophila melanogaster. Neuroscience, in press.

Willis K. Samson, Jian V. Zhang, Orna Avsian-Kretchmer, Kai Cui, Gina L. C. Yosten, Cindy Klein, Ron-Ming Lyu, Yong Xiong Wang, Xiang Qun Chen, Jun Yang, Christopher J. Price, Ted D. Hoyda, Alastair V. Ferguson, Xiao-bin Yuan, Jaw Kang Chang, and Aaron J. W. Hsueh Neuronostatin encoded by somatostatin gene regulates neuronal, cardiovascular, and metabolic functions
JBC published August 26, 2008 as doi:10.1074/jbc.M804784200

Cuzzocrea S, Di Paola R, Genovese T, Mazzon E, Esposito E, Crisafulli C, Bramanti P, Salvemini D. Anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of Fumonisin B1, an inhibitor of ceramide synthase, in a rodent model of splanchnic ischemia and reperfusion injury. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2008 Jul 8. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 18612046 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Ndengele MM, Cuzzocrea S, Esposito E, Mazzon E, Di Paola R, Matuschak GM, Salvemini D. Cyclooxygenases 1 and 2 contribute to peroxynitrite-mediated inflammatory pain hypersensitivity. FASEB J. 2008 May 22. [Epub ahead of print]

Masini E, Giannini L, Nistri S, Cinci L, Mastroianni R, Xu W, Comhair SA, Li D, Cuzzocrea S, Matuschak GM, Salvemini D.Ceramide: a key signaling molecule in a Guinea pig model of allergic asthmatic response and airway inflammation. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2008 2:548-57.

Li Z, Liang D, & Chen L (2008) Potential therapeutic targets for ATP-gated P2X receptor ion channels Assay and drug development technologies 6, 277-284.

The paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus - a potential target for integrative treatment of autonomic dysfunction. AV Ferguson, KJ Latchford, and WK Samson Expert Opinion Therapeutic Targets, Jun 2008; 12(6): 717-27. PMID 18479218

Obestatin inhibits vasopressin secretion: evidence for a physiological action in the control of fluid homeostasis Willis K Samson, Gina L C Yosten, Jaw-Kang Chang, Alastair V Ferguson, and Meghan M White J. Endocrinol., Mar 2008; 196: 559 - 564. PMID 18310451

Nesfatin-1 influences the excitability of paraventricular nucleus neurones. CJ Price, TD Hoyda, WK Samson, and AV Ferguson J Neuroendocrinol, Feb 2008; 20(2): 245-50. PMID 18088358

Kondapaneni, M., McGregor, J.R., Salvemini, D., Laubach, V.E. and Samlowski, W.E. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is not required for IL-2-induced hypotension and vascular leak syndrome in mice. J. Immunother, 31:325-333, 2008.

Macarthur H, Westfall TC, Wilken GH (2008) Oxidative stress attenuates NO-induced modulation of sympathetic neurotransmission in the mesenteric arterial bed of spontaneously hypertensive rats. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 294:H183-189.

Zahm DS, Trimble M (2008) The dopaminergic projection system, Basal forebrain macrosystems, and conditioned stimuli. CNS Spectr 13:32-40