Recent Publications and Grants

Research

Basu P, Averitt DL, Maier C, Basu A. The effects of nuclear factor erythroid 2 (NFE2)-related factor 2 (Nrf2) activation in preclinical models of peripheral neuropathic pain. Antioxidants. 2022;11(2):430. doi: 10.3390/antiox11020430

Kaur S, Hickman TM, Lopez-Ramirez A, McDonald H, Lockhart LM, Darwish O, Averitt DL. Estrogen modulation of the pronociceptive effects of serotonin on female rat trigeminal sensory neurons is timing- and dosage-dependent and requires estrogen receptor alpha. Pain. 2022 Feb 2; epub ahead of print. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002604

Hornung RS, Raut MG, Cantu DJ, Lockhart LM, Averitt DL. Sigma-1 receptors and progesterone metabolizing enzymes in nociceptive sensory neurons of the female rat trigeminal ganglia: A neural substrate for the antinociceptive actions of progesterone. Mol Pain. 2022;18:17448069211069255. doi: 10.1177/17448069211069255

Basu P, Averitt DL, Maier C. Euphorbia bicolor (Euphorbiaceae) Latex Phytochemicals and Applications to Analgesia. 2022. In Rajendram R, Patel V, Preedy VR (eds). The Neuroscience of Anesthetics and Analgesics. Cambridge (MA): Elsevier Science.

Kaur S, McDonald H, Tongkhuya S, Lopez CMC, Ananth S, Hickman TM, Averitt DL. Estrogen exacerbates nociceptive effects of peripheral serotonin on rat trigeminal sensory neurons. Neurobiol of Pain. 2021;10:100073. doi: 10.1016/j.ynpai.2021.100073

Vallabhanani AR, Kabashi M, Haymowicz M, Bhatt K, Wayman V, Ahmed S, Conrad-Webb H. HSF1 induces RNA polymerase II synthesis of ribosomal RNA in S. cerevisiae during nitrogen deprivation. Curr Genet. 2021. doi: 10.1007/s00294-021-01197-w

Branch KM, Garcia EC, Chen YM, McGregor M, Min M, Prosser R, Whitney N, Spencer JV. Productive infection of human breast cancer cell lines with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). Pathogens. 2021;10:641. doi: 10.3390/pathogens10060641.

Basu P, Maier C, Basu A. Effects of curcumin and its different formulations in preclinical and clinical studies of peripheral neuropathic and postoperative pain: A comprehensive review. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Apr 28;22(9):4666. doi: 10.3390/ijms22094666.

Young VP, Mariano MC, Faure L, Spencer JV. Detection of Cytomegalovirus Interleukin 10 (cmvIL-10) by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Methods Mol Biol. 2021; 2244:291-299. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1111-1_15.

Varma P, Lybrand ZR, Antopia MC, Hsieh J. Novel targets of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in human fetal brain development suggest early pregnancy vulnerability. Front Neurosci. 2021 Jan 21;14:614680. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2020.614680.

Arva A, Kasu YAT, Duncan J, Alkhatatbeh MA, Brower CS. The Ligand of Ate1 is intrinsically disordered and participates in nucleolar phase separation regulated by Jumonji Domain Containing 6. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Jan 5;118(1):e2015887118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2015887118.

Chinta P, Garcia EC, Tajuddin KH, Akhidenor N, Davis A, Faure L, Spencer JV. Control of cytokines in latent cytomegalovirus infection. Pathogens. 2020 Oct 21; 9(10): 858. doi: 10.3390/pathogens9100858

Mody PH, Pathak S, Hanson LK, Spencer JV. Herpes simplex virus: A versatile tool for insights into evolution, gene delivery, and tumor immunotherapy. Virology: Research and Treatment. 2020; 11: 1-12. doi: 10.1177/1178122X20913274

Tu CC, O’Connor CM, Spencer JV. Identification of a novel signaling complex containing host chemokine receptor CXCR4, Interleukin-10 receptor, and human cytomegalovirus US27. Virology. 2020 Sept; 548:49-58. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2020.06.006 

Khosla A, Morfy N, Li Q, Faure L, Chang SH, Yao J, Zheng J, Cai ML, Stanga J, Flematti GR, Waters MT, Nelson DC. Structure-Function Analysis of SMAX1 Reveals Domains That Mediate Its Karrikin-Induced Proteolysis and Interaction with the Receptor KAI2. Plant Cell. 2020 Aug; 32(8): 2639-2659. doi: 10.1105/tpc.19.00752

Lybrand ZR, Goswami S, Hsieh J. Stem cells: A path towards improved epilepsy therapies. Neuropharmacology. 2020 May 15;168:107781. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2019.107781.

Hornung R, Benton W, Tongkhuya S, Uphouse L, Kramer P, Averitt DL. Progesterone and allopregnanolone rapidly attenuate estrogen-associated mechanical allodynia in rats with persistent temporomandibular joint inflammation. Front Int Neurosci. 2020 May 8; 14:26. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2020.00026. 

Spencer JV, Editor. Lokau J, Kleinegger F, Garbers Y, Waetzig GH, Grötzinger J, Rose-John S, Haybaeck J, Garbers C. Tocilizumab does not block interleukin-6 (IL-6) signaling in murine cells. PLoS ONE. 2020 May 4; 15(5): e0232612. doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232612 

Madaan U, Faure L, Chowdhury A, Ahmed S, Ciccarelli EJ, Gumienny TL, Savage-Dunn C. Feedback regulation of BMP signaling by C. elegans cuticle collagens. Mol Biol Cell. 2020 Apr 1; 12:mbcE19070390. doi: https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E19-07-0390 

Coulon D, Faure L, Grison M, Pascal S, Wattelet-Boyer V, Clark J, Guedard ML, Testet E, Bessoule JJ. LPIAT, a lyso-phosphatidylinositol acyltransferase, modulates seed germination in Arabidopsis thaliana through PIP signaling pathways and is involved in hyperosmotic response. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Feb 28; 21(5):1654. doi: 10.3390/ijms21051654

Lybrand ZR, Martinez-Acosta VG, Zoran MJ. Coupled sensory interneurons mediate escape neural circuit processing in an aquatic annelid worm, Lumbriculus variegatus. J Comp Neurol. 2020 Feb 15;528(3):468-480. doi: 10.1002/cne.24769.

Reddy JM, Raut NGR, Seifert JL, Hynds DL.  Regulation of Small GTPase Prenylation in the Nervous System.  Mol Neurobiol. 2020 Jan 27. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-020-01870-0

Spencer JV, Religa P, Lehmann MH. Editorial: Cytokine-Mediated Organ Dysfunction and Tissue Damage Induced by Viruses. Front Immunol. 2020 Jan 22; 11:2. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00002 

Roy S, Liu W, Nandety RS, Crook A, Mysore KS, Pislariu CI, Frugoli J, Dickstein R, Udvardi MK.  Celebrating 20 Years of Genetic Discoveries in Legume Nodulation and Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation.  Plant Cell. 2020 Jan; 32(1):15-41. doi: https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00279

Science Education

Spencer JV. Fueling Faculty Funding: Five Tips for Promoting Grant Success in Your Department. The Department Chair. 2022;32(4):6-7. doi: 10.1002/dch.30439

Spencer JV, Hammett AJM, and FitzGerald Y. Making lemonade for adjunct faculty. The Department Chair. 2021;31(4):7. doi: 10.1002/dch.30377.

Ahmed SA and Spencer JV. Why you should be a selfish instructor. Faculty Focus. 2021 Mar 5. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/philosophy-of-teaching/why-you-should-be-a-selfish-instructor/

Serrano MJ, Ahmed S. Teaching through COVID. Science Education and Civic Engagement. 2020;12(2): 68-69.

Scott G and Ahmed SA. A writing-to-learn approach for improving students’ evaluation of science web sources. American Biology Teacher. 2020 Nov/Dec; 82(9):638-40. doi: 10.1525/abt.2020.82.9.638.

Rosen, L. and Ahmed, S. (2020). Fostering Future Faculty: How Chairs Can Support Graduate Teaching Assistants. The Department Chair, 30(3): 24-25.

Open Educational Resources

Ahmed SA. 2022. Principles of Biology Lab. Denton (TX): TWU Libraries. https://twu-ir.tdl.org/handle/11274/13589

Extramural Grants

National Science Foundation #2130361  $1,500,000  2021  PI: SPENCER J, GULLION J, ELROD D, & PIERCE S.  SCHOLARSHIPS AND CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES LEADING TO EXCELLENCE IN THE BIOTECHNOLOGY WORKFORCE.

National Institutes of Health R15 NS095317 $383,343 2021 PI: BROWER, C.S.  EVALUATING PROTEIN QUALITY CONTROL IN THE TOXICITY OF TDP43 FRAGMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH ALS AND FTD

National Science Foundation #1953448  $2,448,091  2020  PI: ELROD D, DUNLAP K, GARDNER D, PETROS R, & WALTJE J.  TWU-PRIME: CAPACITY BUILDING FOR STUDENTS AND FACULTY THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS, RESEARCH, INNOVATION, MENTORING, & ENGAGEMENT

Page last updated 11:40 AM, May 17, 2022