A Creative Communication Partnership to Promote Curricula Dissemination on Social Media.

Genome Sciences Education Outreach (GSEO) has developed innovative programs that bring leading-edge science to teachers and students in K-12 schools. Disseminating educational materials equitably and accessibly to teacher stakeholders to maximize reach and impact is challenging for many programs. Traditionally, programs connect materials with teachers through local networks, in-person professional development sessions, and at regional and national conference presentations.

Blood Sugar Balance: A Glucose Metabolism Web Game for Diabetes Education.

Blood Sugar Balance (BSB) is an accessible web-based game, created as an extension of our federally funded type 2 diabetes curriculum for high school biology classrooms. Modeling of complex systems and diseases, like metabolism and type 2 diabetes (T2D), is especially difficult and deeply impactful when executed in an engaging way. Blood Sugar Balance integrates environmental factors, biological factors, and personal choices to model glucose metabolism and understand the impact and risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

Turning Towards Greater Equity and Access with Online Teacher Professional Development.

Access to professional development opportunities promotes equity for both teachers and students. We identified time, distance, and childcare needs as limiting factors for teachers seeking to attend our conference workshops and in-person professional development opportunities. Therefore, just months before the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid shift to online learning, the Genome Sciences Education Outreach (GSEO) program transitioned to online professional development for the NIGMS sponsored SEPA grant Genes Environment and Me Network (GEMNet) program.

A cAMP-Related Gene Network in Microglia Is Inversely Regulated by Morphine Tolerance and Withdrawal.

Background: Microglia have recently been implicated in opioid dependence and withdrawal. Mu Opioid (MOR) receptors are expressed in microglia, and microglia form intimate connections with nearby neurons. Accordingly, opioids have both direct (MOR mediated) and indirect (neuron-interaction mediated) effects on microglia function.

Stress induces divergent gene expression among lateral habenula efferent pathways.

The lateral habenula (LHb) integrates critical information regarding aversive stimuli that shapes decision making and behavioral responses. The three major LHb outputs innervate dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), ventral tegmental area (VTA), and the rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg). LHb neurons that project to these targets are segregated and nonoverlapping, and this led us to consider whether they have distinct molecular phenotypes and adaptations to stress exposure.

Sequencing the serotonergic neuron translatome reveals a new role for Fkbp5 in stress.

Serotonin is a key mediator of stress, anxiety, and depression, and novel therapeutic targets within serotonin neurons are needed to combat these disorders. To determine how stress alters the translational profile of serotonin neurons, we sequenced ribosome-associated RNA from these neurons after repeated stress in male and female mice. We identified numerous sex- and stress-regulated genes.

5-HT Receptor-Mediated Activation of ERK1/2 Requires Both Gα and β-Arrestin Proteins.

5-HT receptors modulate synaptic serotonin (5-HT) levels and play a significant role in the regulation of emotional behaviors. These receptors are Gα-coupled and inhibit adenylyl cyclase but have also been reported to activate MAP kinases; however, the details of signaling cascades downstream of 5-HT receptor activation remain unclear, particularly in neuronal cells. We generated a stable 5-HT receptor-expressing Neuro2A (N2A-1B) neuronal cell line and demonstrate that activation of these receptors by the selective 5-HT agonist CP-94253 results in activation of ERK1/2 but not of other closely related MAP kinases.

Restoration of Physiological Expression of 5-HT Receptor into the Primary Cilia of Null Mutant Neurons Lengthens Both Primary Cilia and Dendrites.

5-HT (serotonin) receptors are promising targets for a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders and have been linked to several cellular signaling cascades. Endogenous 5-HT receptors are restricted to the primary neuronal cilium, a small sensory organelle stemming from the cell body that receives numerous extrasynaptic signals. Inhibition of 5-HT receptors decreases cilia length in primary neuronal cultures, but the signaling mechanisms involved are still unclear.