[Neuropostdocs] CMBTG Seminar Annoucement

[Joan Cornell]

>
>Dr. Ruben Boado from UCLA will be the CMBTG speaker on May 7th, 2002 at 4:00
>PM in the the CLSL Auditorium.
>
>I have two time slots open available on May 7th at 2:15 - 2:45 and at 2:45 -
>3:30. If anyone would like to meet with him during these times or if you are
>on the training grant and would like to have dinner with him at 7:30 at
>Kennedys, please do not hesitate to contact before Friday at randres@uiuc.edu.
>  Thanks.
>
>
>
>SEMINAR
>
>Sponsored by
>The National Institutes of Health
>Cell and Molecular Biology Training Program
>
>"Molecular Biology of Brain Endothelial Transport
>
>Dr. Rueben Boado
>UCLA School of Medicine
>Los Angeles, California
>
>4:00 p.m.
>Tuesday, May 7, 2002
>B-102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory
>
>The brain microvascular endothelium represents the blood-brain barrier (BBB)
>in vivo, and it evolved to ensure sustained distribution of nutrients
>throughout the brain and to protect brain cells against peripheral
>neurotransmitters and cytokines.  Because the BBB is only permeable to
>lipophilic molecules of <600 Da, nutrients like glucose and amino acids are
>transported from blood to brain through specific facilitated transporters.
>The BBB-GLUT1 glucose transporter protein mediates the transport of glucose,
>and its regulation is altered in a variety of pathophysiological conditions,
>including glucose deprivation, brain tumors and Alzheimer's disease.  The
>expression of the BBB-GLUT1 gene is principally modulated at the
>post-transcriptional level via changes in the stabilization of the GLUT1
>transcript mRNA.  The functional mapping of the GLUT1 mRNA revealed that the 5
>'-untranslated region (UTR) is involved in the translational control of this
>transcript.  In addition, the 3'-UTR of GLUT1 contains cis-acting elements
>involved in the stabilization of this mRNA (1,2).  The amino acid supply in
>brain is regulated by the activity of the large neutral amino acid 
>transporter
>(LAT) at the BBB, and the LAT1 isoform has recently been identified at the 
>BBB
>(3). Even though little is known about its regulation at the molecular level,
>the activity of the BBB-LAT1 is altered in brain tumors, development and
>hypoxia.  A microarray approach based on the suppression subtracted
>hybridization method as recently identified several gene products that were
>selectively expressed at the BBB; these include novel gene sequences not 
>found
>in existing databases (i.e. BBB-specific anion transporter type 1, BAAT1),
>ESTs, and known genes that were not known to be selectively expressed at the
>BBB (4, 5).  Knowledge of tissue-specific gene expression at the BBB could
>elucidate mechanisms of brain pathology at the microvascular level, and could
>also lead to targets for brain drug delivery (6, 7).
>
>References:
>(1)     Boardo RJ (1009) Molecular Biology of Brain Capillaries.  In: An
>Introduction ot the Blood-Brain Barrier; Methoodology and Biology.  W.M.
>Pardridge, Ed. Cambridge University Press pp 151.
>(2)     Boardo RJ & Pardridge, WM (2002) J. Neurochem. 80:552.
>(3)     Boado RJ et al. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA  96:12079.
>(4)     Li JY et al. (2001)  J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metab.  21:61.
>(5)     Shusta et al. (2002)  J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metab.  22:245.
>(6)     Shi N  et al. (2000) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA  97:14709.
>(7)     Shi N et al. 2001) Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98:12754.

Joan Cornell
Neurosciences Program
University of Illinois
393 Morrill Hall, MC-119
505 S. Goodwin Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
Telephone:  217/333-3166
FAX:           217/265-0927
jcornell@life.uiuc.edu