Cellular & Molecular Toxicology of ButadienePerpetua M. Muganda, Ph.D. Project DescriptionThe ARCH Program at Southern University of Baton Rouge (SUBR) featured a collaboration with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB). The scientific theme of this collaborative venture was to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms of butadiene toxicity. This is particularly relevant to this geographic region of the nation with heavy presence of the petroleum industry. Investigators at SUBR and UTMB collaborated on a number of Research Projects and Pilot Projects that asked specific questions about butadiene toxicity. Research Projects at UTMB focused on mutagenesis and repair of butadiene DNA adducts and butadiene genotoxicity in cytomegalovirus-infected cells. Pilot Projects at SUBR included study of the role of p53 in mediating cellular responses to combined butadiene & cytomegalovirus; as well as reproductive and neuroendocrine responses to time dependent butadiene exposure. The ARCH supported facility core that was used to provide enhanced capabilities to ARCH investigators is the Inhalation Research Core, that allows animal inhalation experiments as well as in vitro systems exposures. Faculty development at SUBR was supported by ARCH funds to recruit and hire new faculty who have demonstrated the potential to or have successfully competed for peer reviewed grant support. Teaching release time was also a feature of the SUBR ARCH program for SUBR ARCH investigators. The newly established Ph.D. graduate program in toxicology at SUBR also enhanced faculty development at this institution. |
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