Duquesne University

About: Duquesne University is a education organization based out in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 3615 authors who have published 7169 publications receiving 180066 citations. The organization is also known as: Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit.

Central Amygdala Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5 in the Modulation of Visceral Pain

Abstract: Painful bladder syndrome is a debilitating condition that affects 3–6% of women in the United States Multiple lines of evidence suggest that changes in CNS processing are key to the development of chronic bladder pain conditions but little is known regarding the underlying cellular, molecular, and neuronal mechanisms Using a mouse model of distention-induced bladder pain, we found that the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) is a critical site of neuromodulation for processing of bladder nociception Furthermore, we demonstrate that metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) activation in the CeA induces bladder pain sensitization by increasing CeA output Thus, pharmacological activation of mGluR5 in the CeA is sufficient to increase the response to bladder distention Additionally, pharmacological blockade or virally mediated conditional deletion of mGluR5 in the CeA reduced responses to bladder distention suggesting that mGluR5 in the CeA is also necessary for these responses Finally, we used optogenetic activation of the CeA and demonstrated that this caused a robust increase in the visceral pain response The CeA-localized effects on responses to bladder distention are associated with changes in extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) phosphorylation in the spinal cord Overall, these data demonstrate that mGluR5 activation leads to increased CeA output that drives bladder pain sensitization

Transformation of Inorganic and Organic Arsenic byAlkaliphilus oremlandiisp. nov. Strain OhILAs

Abstract: Alkaliphilus oremlandii sp. nov. strain OhILAs is a mesophilic, spore-forming, motile, low mole%GC gram positive. It was enriched from Ohio River sediments on a basal medium with 20 mM lactate and 5 mM arsenate and isolated through passage on medium with increased arsenic concentration (10 and 20 mM), tindalization, and serial dilution. The pH optimal for growth was 8.4 and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated it is most closely related to species in the genus Alkaliphilus (A. crotonoxidans 95%, A. auruminator 95%, A. metalliredigens, 94%). A strict anaerobe, it can ferment lactate via the acrylate pathway as well as fructose and glycerol. A. oremlandii also has respiratory capability, as it is able to use arsenate and thiosulfate as terminal electron acceptors with acetate, pyruvate, formate, lactate, fumarate, glycerol, or fructose as the electron donor. A respiratory arsenate reductase, which is constitutively expressed, has been identified through biochemical and Western blot analyses and confirmed by cloning and sequencing of the gene encoding the structural subunit arrA. The entire arr operon as well as the ars operon have also been identified in the fully annotated genome. A. oremlandii also transforms the organoarsenical 3-nitro-4-hydroxy benzene arsonic acid (roxarsone). Growth experiments and genomic analysis suggest that it couples the reduction of the nitro group of the organoarsenical to the oxidation of either lactate or fructose in a dissimilatory manner, generating ATP via a sodium dependent ATP synthase.