Grants

PROJECT SUMMARY The amygdala is present in all vertebrate animals because it influences common behaviors that pertain to threat assessment in the natural world (as well as fear, pain, and reward). Neuroscience well understands how the amygdala interacts with neocortical, subcortical and midbrain sites. However, potential links between the amygdala and brainstem respiratory control sites remains mysterious. This proposal will address that knowledge gap by examining how the central amygdala exerts inhibitory control over the breathing core oscillator site, the preBötzinger complex (preBötC) of the lower medulla. Output from the amygdala largely depends on GABAergic neurons of its central subdivision (CeA). Rhythmic breathing movements depend inexorably on the preBötC. Therefore, a CepreBötC projection would be inhibitory and therefore potentially able to perturb or stop breathing. That microcircuit might be important. Why? First, perceived threats, like the presence of a predator, cause arousal in conjunction with arrest of locomotion. Sometimes freezing behavior is accompanied by bradycardia and diminished breathing: bradypnea or apnea. Whereas the microcircuits for vigilance, locomotor arrest and bradycardia are well understood, the mechanisms that diminish breathing are unknown. We propose an explanation that involves – at least in part – CeA neurons that directly inhibit the preBötC. Second, SUDEP (sudden unexpected death in epilepsy) may occur when seizures invade the lateral or basolateral amygdala, which connect to the much smaller CeA and cause long-lasting apneas. Seizure-induced apneas suspend oxygen delivery yet paradoxically fail to cause panic, dyspnea or air hunger in human patients. We hypothesize that seizures invading the lateral or basolateral amygdala activate the CeA preBötC inhibitory pathway, which can stop breathing. The first Aim of the project tests the hypothesis that CeA GABAergic neurons project directly to excitatory preBötC neurons by installing Cre-dependent optogenetic proteins in CeA neurons of VgatCre adult mice and studying the biophysical properties of their synaptic drive onto core preBötC neurons in adult brainstem slice preparations. The second Aim tests that hypothesis that CepreBötC inhibitory synapses can transiently diminish and/or stop breathing. In this context, we photostimulate the CeA with a graded range of intensities during breathing behavior in awake intact adult mice to evaluate its ability to perturb and/or fully stop breathing. Although we acknowledge that the Aims are adversely interdependent, the abundant pilot data in support of Aim 1 make it unlikely to fail and thus undercut Aim 2. This project will reveal a heretofore unknown microcircuit between 2 key nuclei: the central amygdala and the preBötC. Their connection may help explain ethological behaviors like threat assessment common to all mammals and SUDEP (rare but fatal), which can be leveraged for treatment and prevention strategies.

— – $234K

2028-01-31

health research

Compare

An AR Jane’s Walk in the Heart of Downtown Seattle

open

Downtown Community Council

Jane’s Walk is an annual global festival of free, community-led walking conversations inspired by Jane Jacobs. Jane’s Walks encourage people to share stories, discover unseen aspects of their community, and use walking as a way to connect with their neighbors and neighborhood. Seattle does not currently have a Jane’s Walk. The Downtown Community Council will create a Jane’s Walk to help redefine our neighborhood from one of the most distressed neighborhoods to a welcoming and safe home in the public imagination. The walk will feature mobile phone based augmented reality creations providing new tools for Seattleites to voice their ideas on the direction of our city. This project will include community education programming leading up to the public launch during the Jane’s Walk festival on May 3 and 4, 2025. This project will be completed by June 30, 2025.

AN AMERICAN HISTORY BOTANICAL TRAIL AT THE WADDELL BARNES BOTANICAL GARDEN [THE PROPOSED AMERICAN HISTORY BOTANICAL TRAI...

open

National Endowment for the Humanities

AN AMERICAN HISTORY BOTANICAL TRAIL AT THE WADDELL BARNES BOTANICAL GARDEN [THE PROPOSED AMERICAN HISTORY BOTANICAL TRAIL AT THE WADDELL BARNES BOTANICAL GARDEN CREATES AN INNOVATIVE, INTERDISCIPLINARY EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE THAT INTERTWINES THE NATURAL WORLD WITH THE NATION?S HISTORICAL NARRATIVE TO CELEBRATE THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE U.S.A. THIS PROJECT DEVELOPS A CURATED WALKING TRAIL HIGHLIGHTING PLANTS OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE ACROSS MAJOR ERAS OF U.S. HISTORY?FROM THE COLONIAL PERIOD TO THE CIVIL WAR, INDUSTRIALIZATION, THE GREAT DEPRESSION, AND CONTEMPORARY AMERICA. INTERPRETIVE SIGNAGE, HISTORICAL NARRATIVES, AND DIGITAL RESOURCES CONNECT SPECIFIC PLANT SPECIES TO THEIR ROLES IN SHAPING AMERICAN LIFE, HEALTH, ECONOMY, AND IDENTITY. BY COMBINING HISTORICAL CONTEXT WITH BOTANICAL KNOWLEDGE, THE TRAIL SERVES AS A LIVING CLASSROOM FOR COMMUNITY VISITORS, K?12 SCHOOL GROUPS, AND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. TO FURTHER CELEBRATE OUR NATION?S 250TH ANNIVERSARY, SEVERAL HISTORICAL EDUCATIONAL EVENTS WILL BE HELD ON THE TRAIL THROUGHOUT 2026.]

An Atlas of Bacterial Physiology in the Human Oral Cavity

open

NIDCR - National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Periodontitis, caries, and halitosis are highly prevalent, have a large financial burden, and negatively impact quality of life. These conditions are each driven by the community of microbes in the mouth, especially oral pathogens. In contrast, during oral health, the oral microbiota is dominated by commensal, non-pathogenic species that are thought to modulate health, including through their interactions with pathogens. Select oral microbes are well characterized in the lab, but the behavior of these organisms in the human oral cavity is not well described. Over the last decade, researchers have used RNA sequencing directly from the human oral cavity (metatranscriptomics) to define the overall bacterial behavior in subgingival plaque, in supragingival plaque, and on the tongue. These studies were instrumental in uncovering broad changes in bacterial gene expression between health and diseased states. However, there remains a lack of understanding of the behavior of individual taxa in the human oral cavity. We recently started to address this gap in knowledge by characterizing the gene expression of the pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis during periodontitis in 93 human metatranscriptomes. This proposal expands on our approach by leveraging 697 publicly-available human oral metatranscriptomes to identify the gene expression of key oral pathogens, pathobionts, and commensals across oral sites and disease states. This study will be supported by pangenomic approaches to capture the gene expression of diverse genotypes and an in silico validation approach to ensure high specificity and sensitivity. Our findings will uncover the biology of each microbe during oral health and disease, including virulence factor expression, metabolic processes, and other host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions. Also, we will examine the variation in behavior for each taxon of interest across hosts, oral sites, and disease states. Finally, these analyses will help researchers identify key genes to study based on the expression levels in the human oral cavity. To this end, we will share our data using interactive interfaces in the Human Oral Microbiome Database, an expertly-curated and highly-used resource for oral microbiologists. In sum, this project will be instrumental in describing the gene expression of oral microbes in the human oral cavity, uncovering new biology of these important bacteria, and empowering researchers to study genes relevant to human health and disease.

An Claidheamh Soluis, Inc.

open

NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

An Claidheamh Soluis, Inc.

Ana Maria Agüero Jahannes

open

City of Oakland

Shapeshift is a multidisciplinary performance installation at Betti Ono Gallery that explores the imagined or unseen worlds that fuel meaningful existence through three dimensional design of space, acrobatic and aerial dance performance, and interpersonal engagement.

— – $5K

Rolling

Arts & Culture