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Hi Everyone, Dr. Ethan Perlstein, Princeton University is the QB/GEDD Science at the Edge seminar speaker on Friday, March 22 - his abstract follows this message. Dr. Titus Brown is hosting the speaker. If you would like to meet with Dr. Perlstein, please reply to this message with your available times (flexibility is helpful in scheduling the appointments) and I will get back with you to confirm the time. Friday, March 22 7:45-9:00 Filled - Breakfast w/speaker (he is staying at Kellogg Center - charge meal to his room) 9:00-9:45 Open 9:45-10:30 Open 10:30-11:15 Open 11:15-11:30 Speaker Preparation, 1400 BPS 11:30-12:30 Seminar, 1400 BPS 12:30-2:00 Filled - Lunch w/speaker 2:00-2:45 Open 2:45-3:30 Open 3:30-4:15 Filled 4:15 Leaves for the airport Ethan Perlstein Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics Princeton University Do Yeast Get Depressed? My research interests are in evolutionary pharmacology, the study of complex drugs using simple genetic model organisms. For 5 years at Princeton, my lab used cellular drug responses of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model for psychopharmacology. A recurring theme of our work is that cell membranes are a novel drug target of basic and hydrophobic psychoactive drugs, such as antidepressants, antipsychotics and antihistamines. Using a radioactive version of the antidepressant Zoloft, we identified several evolutionarily conserved cellular pathways, including autophagy, that modify drug accumulation both in yeast cells and a rat neuronal cell line (PC12). These pathways regulate the shape and function of specific cell membranes that comprise acidic organelles of the secretory and endocytic pathways, as revealed by quantitative, bilayer-resolution electron microscopy. The accumulation of cationic amphipathic drugs in cell membranes has a cytoprotective effect in yeast mutants with altered clathrin function, a striking observation that has implications for the unexplained neurogenic effects of antidepressants in people. Finally, last Fall I and my team of collaborators crowdfunded over $25,000 for a project to examine the distribution of radioactive amphetamines in the mouse brain. In the spirit of Open Science, we are sharing data in real-time and proactively engaging with the public. Thank you for your prompt response. Helen Helen Geiger, Administrative Assistant Quantitative Biology Graduate Program and Gene Expression in Development and Disease Biochemistry 603 Wilson Road, Room 212 East Lansing, MI 48824 Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Phone: 517-432-9895 QB Website: http://www.qbi.msu.edu/ GEDD Website: http://www.gedd.msu.edu/