Crossing the Chloride Channel: The Current and Potential Therapeutic Value of the Neuronal K+-Cl- Cotransporter KCC2

This is the final version. Available from Hindawi via the DOI in this record.Chloride (Cl-) homeostasis is an essential process involved in neuronal signalling and cell survival. Inadequate regulation of intracellular Cl- interferes with synaptic signalling and is implicated in several neurological diseases. The main inhibitory neurotransmitter of the central nervous system is γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA hyperpolarises the membrane potential by activating Cl- permeable receptor channels . This process is reliant on Cl- extruder K+-Cl- cotransporter 2 (KCC2), which generates the neuron’s inward, hyperpolarising Cl- gradient. KCC2 is encoded by the fifth member of the solute carrier 12 family (SLC12A5) and has remained a poorly understood component in the development and severity of many neurological diseases for many years. Recent advancements in next-generation sequencing and specific gene targeting, however, have indicated that loss of KCC2 activity is involved in a number of diseases including epilepsy and schizophrenia. It has also been implicated in neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury. Any variant of SLC12A5 that negatively regulates the transporter’s expression may, therefore, be implicated in neurological disease. A recent whole exome study has discovered several causative mutations in patients with epilepsy. Here, we discuss the implications of KCC2 in neurological disease and consider the evolving evidence for KCC2’s potential as a therapeutic target

Integrating K12 Outreach with Undergraduate & Graduate Student Research through BalloonSAT: High Altitude Balloons

The Arkansas BalloonSAT team has successfully launched and recovered 37 BalloonSAT’s dating back to the first flight on December 16, 2006. Numerous instruments measuring such things as atmospheric temperature, humidity, radiation, and light intensity have recorded data from different locations over the State of Arkansas. The initial focus of this project was outreach with the k-12 schools, and still involves outreach; however atmospheric research has become a significant component for this endeavor. This ongoing collaborative projection has involved a number of faculty and students from different academic backgrounds, including physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy among different ASGC schools who have contributed to this effort. Members of the team have presented at state, regional, national, as well as international conferences. The outreach work with k-12 teachers/students was highlighted in an article Students at the Edge of Space published in the journal The Science Teacher produced by the National Science Teachers Association (January 2008). A photograph taken from a camera mounted in one of the payload boxes flown on Arkansas BalloonSAT 6 made the cover of this journal. Tethered Blimps are a new additional to this program. The investigators have form an initial network of five Arkansas middle & high schools to observe weather trends across the state and engage midlevel & secondary teachers and students in a collaborative research project. These teachers will receive training, equipment, and 13 foot tethered blimps in June 2015. The project aims include but are not limited to identifying urban heat island effects by comparing schools from rural areas and urban areas, and daily variations in relative humidity. A number of these schools are located in rural farming areas where CH4 and CO2 levels will be measured from just above the surface with the blimps to the lower stratosphere via balloons

Effects of Co substitution on thermodynamic and transport properties and anisotropic Hc2H_{c2} in Ba(Fe1−x_{1-x}Cox_x)2_2As2_2 single crystals

Single crystalline samples of Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ with $x < 0.12$ have been grown and characterized via microscopic, thermodynamic and transport measurements. With increasing Co substitution, the thermodynamic and transport signatures of the structural (high temperature tetragonal to low temperature orthorhombic) and magnetic (high temperature non magnetic to low temperature antiferromagnetic) transitions are suppressed at a rate of roughly 15 K per percent Co. In addition, for $x \ge 0.038$ superconductivity is stabilized, rising to a maximum $T_c$ of approximately 23 K for $x \approx 0.07$ and decreasing for higher $x$ values. The $T - x$ phase diagram for Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ indicates that either superconductivity can exist in both low temperature crystallographic phases or that there is a structural phase separation. Anisotropic, superconducting, upper critical field data ($H_{c2}(T)$) show a significant and clear change in anisotropy between samples that have higher temperature structural phase transitions and those that do not. These data show that the superconductivity is sensitive to the suppression of the higher temperature phase transition