📣 Preprint!! Hugely excited for this new direction - An ongoing collaboration with the incredible labs of @nanopharmnc.bsky.social and Gina Leinninger!! Beautiful work from the McElligott lab shows that biased NTSR1 signaling in the extended amygdala suppresses motivated feeding. 🐭🍩 Check it out!👇

Zoe McElligott@nanopharmnc.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Happy to share with you that we have a new preprint up on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social " Biased signaling at NTSR1 differentially regulates inhibitory synaptic transmission in the extended amygdala and suppressess motivated feeding in mice" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Happy to share with you that we have a new preprint up on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social " Biased signaling at NTSR1 differentially regulates inhibitory synaptic transmission in the extended amygdala and suppressess motivated feeding in mice" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Stick With Me Liz Lemon (Tina Fey)

Alt: Stick With Me Liz Lemon (Tina Fey)

static.klipy.com

I am looking for a new reserach technician. This is an entry level position ideal for a graudating senior. Please re-post and send candidates my way! zoemce@email.unc.edu

So excited to see our latest paper out today in @natcomms.nature.com! Studies led by the amazing @margestelzner.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41.... VTA GABA neurons have a unique role in economic decision making - they integrate reward seeking motivation and the current cost of seeking

Ventral tegmental area GABA neurons integrate positive and negative valence - Nature Communications

The role of ventral tegmental area GABA neurons in behavior is unclear. Here, authors show that VTA GABA but not dopamine neurons integrate positive and negative valence to encode motivational conflic...

nature.com

Big new paper from us published yesterday: The synaptic ectokinase VLK triggers the EphB2–NMDAR interaction to drive injury-induced pain www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Led by @hajisciencebaji.bsky.social in my lab and a wonderful collaboration with Matthew Dalva's lab at Tulane

The synaptic ectokinase VLK triggers the EphB2–NMDAR interaction to drive injury-induced pain

Phosphorylation of hundreds of protein extracellular domains is mediated by two kinase families but the functional role of these kinases is underexplored. We find that the presynaptic release of the t...

science.org

#SfN2025 here we come! I am thrilled to be joined at the Society for Neuroscience meeting this year by Madelyn Moore, @kelseyperson.bsky.social, @valeriarobleto.bsky.social, and Crystal Lemchi. If you are in San Diego for the conference, please stop by to say hi! 👋 🧪🧠🟦

Multiple Allosteric Sites Allow for Synergistic Enhancement of GPCR Signaling https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.21.683604v1

Thank you SBP for the wonderful highlight! And thank you @behnoushhajian.bsky.social for the beautiful artwork! ✨

Sanford Burnham Prebys@sbpdiscovery.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys, the University of Minnesota and Duke University report in Nature that “biased modulators” can target GPCRs more precisely—expanding potential drug targets and reducing side effects. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys, the University of Minnesota and Duke University report in Nature that “biased modulators” can target GPCRs more precisely—expanding potential drug targets and reducing side effects. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Newly designed molecules acting as "molecular glues" and "bumpers" can selectively rewire GPCR signaling, offering a pathway to more precise and potentially safer medicines. doi.org/g98xfp

'Molecular glues' and 'bumpers' offer new hope for precision medicines

New research led by the University of Minnesota Medical School demonstrates that molecules acting as "molecular bumpers" and "molecular glues" can rewire G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling, turning the cell's busiest receptors into precision tools—opening the door to a new generation of safer, smarter medicines.

medicalxpress.com

Wow! Thank you @nature.com for highlighting our recent work in this nice Research Brief! 🧪🧠🟦 A broad overview and glimpse behind the making of the paper 👨‍🍳👩‍🍳 A big thank you to John McCorvy for weighing in!! Brief 👉 www.nature.com/articles/d41... Paper 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Molecular ‘glues’ and ‘bumpers’ on receptors can bias signalling inside the cell

Small molecules that bind to G-protein-coupled receptors’ intracellular pockets can be designed to have pathway-selective effects.

nature.com

Nature research paper: Designing allosteric modulators to change GPCR G protein subtype selectivity go.nature.com/49jaBQS

Designing allosteric modulators to change GPCR G protein subtype selectivity - Nature

Studies of the G-protein-coupled receptor NTSR1 show that the G protein selectivity of this receptor can be modified by small molecules, enabling the design of drugs that work by switching receptor subtype preference.

go.nature.com

Now online @nature.com! Want to change the consequences of receptor activation? Small molecules binding the GPCR-transducer interface change G protein subtype preference in predictable ways, enabling rational drug design 💥 So many new possibilities! 🧪🧠🟦 www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵👇

Designing allosteric modulators to change GPCR G protein subtype selectivity - Nature

Studies of the G-protein-coupled receptor NTSR1 show that the G protein selectivity of this receptor can be modified by small molecules, enabling the design of drugs that work by switching receptor su...

nature.com

Final version of this work is now live! Mitch developed this model and found that a history of chronic neuropathic pain in the SNI model facilitates pain-induced reinstatement of ethanol CPP in male mice. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

J. Barker Lab@jbarkerlab.bsky.social · last yr.

Excited to share a new preprint led by Mitch Nothem who developed a model of pain-induced ethanol reinstatement. Mitch found that in mice with chronic neuropathic pain, moderate stimulation induced reinstatement, while high stim drove reinstatement in all mice. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Excited to present our newest preprint on the structure-function relationship of anaphylatoxin complement receptors. A casual number of 19 structures deciphering ligand recognition mechanisms, G protein/arrestin and species specific signaling. Please check it out! 🧪💊 www.biorxiv.org/content/bior...

Check out our latest! Studies led by the amazing Megan Brickner - she finds really interesting patterns of dopamine signaling in the basolateral amygdala that report the emotional salience of sensory state transitions. These are largely non-associative, value-free signals, in contrast to classic DA.

bioRxiv Neuroscience@biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · last yr.

Basolateral amygdala dopamine transmits a nonassociative emotional salience signal https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.15.654323v1

If anyone who had a grant terminated (at Harvard or elsewhere) would like to partner with my scicomm channel (LetTheDataSpeak across platforms), I’m happy to work with you. I will feature an elevator pitch of your exciting science, then end with “this project was terminated” and a call to action.

Excited to share this new publication in Behavioural Pharmacology! Check it out via the link below. Congratulations to first author Dr. Nina Beltran, and the whole team including our collaborator Dr. Vanessa Minervini! journals.lww.com/behaviouralp... @ninabeltran.bsky.social

The effects of high fat diet consumption on... : Behavioural Pharmacology

iet exacerbates opioid-induced constipation, male and female Sprague–Dawley rats (n = 8/diet/sex) were fed either a low fat (standard) diet, a high fat/high carbohydrate diet, or a ketogenic diet. Rat...

journals.lww.com

Surgeries are a common source of #pain in the clinic. Check out our new paper published today in PNAS exploring how stress can lead to enhanced pain after surgery. We found that targeting prolactin can improve outcomes in females. @pnas.org www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

A prolactin-targeting antibody to prevent stress-induced peripheral nociceptor sensitization and female postoperative pain | PNAS

Scheduled surgeries elicit stress in many patients. Levels of preoperative stress, anxiety, and female gender are known risk factors for increased ...

pnas.org

Hi Science colleagues! Does anyone have recommendations for companies selling custom cannula for intracranial microinfusions. Plastics 1 has gone through so many transformations, now only a limited off the shelf inventory is available.

Published an op-ed for @cnn.com: “Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger.” A personal reflection on what’s at stake as science funding gets slashed. I’d be grateful if you could amplify both in and beyond the science world. www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/h...

Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger | CNN

Dr. Ardem Patapoutian says he watches “with deep sadness as the United States’ remarkable scientific enterprise, which took generations of hard work and national investment to build, faces a concerted...

cnn.com

GPCR allosterism, a popular #ASPET2025 session chaired by @laurenslosky.bsky.social & Laura Wingler.

Working with an interdisciplinary team, we have developed a website to communicate how the White House's proposed cuts to health research would cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs. Find out how your community may be impacted. Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org a 🧵

Excited to see this NIDA supported work from lab PhD student Kasey Brida officially published! Kasey identified a marker of neurons that are responsive to the psychostimulant drug cocaine, and discovered that this marker is essential for cocaine reward. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Reelin marks cocaine-activated striatal neurons, promotes neuronal excitability, and regulates cocaine reward

Reelin is a critical mechanistic link between neuronal activation and cocaine-induced behavioral adaptations.

science.org

Check out our latest - we found that complex terpene extracts from Cannabis had similar pain relief and cannabimimetic effects as purified single terpenes, and also via the same target, the adenosine a2a receptor. Free share link! url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/Uq14CnGWL0...

UAB Neurobiology is hiring up to 4 new tenure-track faculty as part of 3 new open-rank searches. Come join our vibrant, supportive, and growing neuroscience community! uab.peopleadmin.com/postings/23916 uab.peopleadmin.com/postings/23944 uab.peopleadmin.com/postings/24010

I have been trying to find the time to move away from the polical hellscape we find ourselves in to finish and share a bluetorial about science. This helps me remember what this is all about. Ironically, it is about the treatment of pain.

the word irony is written on a white background

ALT: the word irony is written on a white background

media.tenor.com

Excited to present the result of a fantastic collaborative effort - funded by the National Institutes of Health, including the NIH HEAL Initiative, to develop safer analgesic drugs. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A cryptic pocket in CB1 drives peripheral and functional selectivity - Nature

A peripherally restricted CB1 agonist (VIP36) targeting a cryptic receptor pocket was developed, showing high efficacy in mouse pain models with minimal side effects and tolerance, potentially revolut...

nature.com

Large scale investigation of GPCR molecular dynamics data uncovers allosteric sites and lateral gateways www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Large scale investigation of GPCR molecular dynamics data uncovers allosteric sites and lateral gateways - Nature Communications

GPCR dynamics are critical for signal transmission into the cell. Here, the authors probe receptor plasticity using molecular dynamics simulations, enabling the detection of allosteric sites and drug ...

nature.com

We @chronicle.com reported on Friday that applications for F31 diversity fellowships had been withdrawn. Now, multiple scholars tell me their applications have been re-assigned to their original study sections, in a reversal of instructions NIH officials gave reviewers last week. #AcademicSky

‘We’re Being Punished’: NIH Tosses Some Grant Applications From Minority Researchers

The sudden withdrawal affects early-career scholars who applied for a prestigious federal grant with a diversity notation — flagging that they came from underrepresented backgrounds.

chronicle.com