Pain and aging: A unique challenge in neuroinflammation and behavior.

Chronic pain is one of the most common, costly, and potentially debilitating health issues facing older adults, with attributable costs exceeding $600 billion annually. The prevalence of pain in humans increases with advancing age. Yet, the contributions of sex differences, age-related chronic inflammation, and changes in neuroplasticity to the overall experience of pain are less clear, given that opposing processes in aging interact.

A molecular sensor for cholesterol in the human serotonin receptor.

The function of several G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) exhibits cholesterol sensitivity. Cholesterol sensitivity of GPCRs could be attributed to specific sequence and structural features, such as the cholesterol recognition/interaction amino acid consensus (CRAC) motif, that facilitate their cholesterol-receptor interaction. In this work, we explored the molecular basis of cholesterol sensitivity exhibited by the serotonin receptor, the most studied GPCR in the context of cholesterol sensitivity, by generating mutants of key residues in CRAC motifs in transmembrane helix 2 (TM2) and TM5 of the receptor.

Exploring Endocytosis and Intracellular Trafficking of the Human Serotonin Receptor.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent the largest class of receptors involved in signal transduction across cell membranes and are major drug targets in all clinical areas. Endocytosis of GPCRs offers a regulatory mechanism for sustaining their signaling within a stringent spatiotemporal regime. In this work, we explored agonist-induced endocytosis of the human serotonin receptor stably expressed in HEK-293 cells and the cellular machinery involved in receptor internalization and intracellular trafficking.

Amniotic membrane as novel scaffold for human iPSC-derived cardiomyogenesis.

Recent approaches of using decellularized organ matrices for cardiac tissue engineering prompted us to culture human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes (CMs) on the human amniotic membrane (hAM). Since hAM has been used lately to patch diseased hearts in patients and has shown anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic benefits, it qualifies as a cardiac compatible and clinically relevant heart tissue scaffold. The aim of this study was to test the ability of the hAM to support attachment, differentiation, and maturation of hiPSC-derived CMs in vitro.

5-HT deletion protects against Clozapine-induced hyperglycemia.

Clozapine is an antipsychotic known for its superior efficacy in treating drug-resistant Schizophrenia. However, Clozapine induces various side effects such as hyperglycemia, agranulocytosis, weight gain etc. The mechanisms of these Clozapine-induced side effects have remained largely elusive though an important role is ascribed to 5-HT (Serotonin receptor subtype-2A).

Bifunctional derivative of p,p'-dichlorochalcone. Part III. Synthesis and study for cytotoxic activity of a new compound, 2-[2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl]-2-(4-chlorophenyl)-thiazolidin-4-one from p,p'-dichlorochalcone.

The synthesis of 2-(2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl]-2-(4-chlorophenyl)-thiazolidin-4-one (3) from p,p'-dichlorochalcone (1) via 1,3,3-tris(4-chlorophenyl)-propan-1-one (2) using thioglycollic acid in the presence of ammonium carbonate is described. Structural assignment, stereochemistry and biological assay are discussed.