OPUS: Open Ulethbridge Scholarship
Open ULeth Scholarship (OPUS) is the University of Lethbridge's open access research repository. It contains a collection of materials related to research and teaching produced by the academic community.
Self-archiving your research in OPUS is one way to meet Open Access policies of granting agencies. It is important to retain your final, post-peer-reviewed drafts for submission to OPUS, as this is often the only version publishers will allow to be archived. Click here for information on the U of L Open Access Policy.
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Item type:Item, Psilocybin and eugenol reduce inflammation in human 3D epiIntestinal tissue(MDPI, 2023) Robinson, Gregory I.; Li, Dongping; Wang, Bo; Rahman, Tahiat; Gerasymchuk, Marta; Hudson, Darryl; Kovalchuk, Olga; Kovalchuk, IgorInflammation plays a pivotal role in the development and progression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), by contributing to tissue damage and exacerbating the immune response. The investigation of serotonin receptor 2A (5-HT2A) ligands and transient receptor potential (TRP) channel ligands is of significant interest due to their potential to modulate key inflammatory pathways, mitigate the pathological effects of inflammation, and offer new avenues for therapeutic interventions in IBD. This study investigates the anti-inflammatory effects of 5-HT2A ligands, including psilocybin, 4-AcO-DMT, and ketanserin, in combination with TRP channel ligands, including capsaicin, curcumin, and eugenol, on the inflammatory response induced by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interferon (IFN)-γ in human 3D EpiIntestinal tissue. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to assess the expression of pro-inflammatory markers TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, and GM-CSF. Our results show that psilocybin, 4-AcO-DMT, and eugenol significantly reduce TNF-α and IFN-γ levels, while capsaicin and curcumin decrease these markers to a lesser extent. Psilocybin effectively lowers IL-6 and IL-8 levels, but curcumin, capsaicin, and 4-AcO-DMT have limited effects on these markers. In addition, psilocybin can significantly decrease MCP-1 and GM-CSF levels. While ketanserin lowers IL-6 and GM-CSF levels, there are no effects seen on TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-8, or MCP-1. Although synergistic effects between 5-HT2A and TRP channel ligands are minimal in this study, the results provide further evidence of the anti-inflammatory effects of psilocybin and eugenol. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms of action and the feasibility of using these compounds as anti-inflammatory therapies for conditions like IBD.Item type:Item, Validating a multi-locus metabarcoding approach for characterizing mixed-pollen samples(Springer Nature, 2023) Wizenberg, Sydney B.; Newburn, Laura R.; Pepinelli, Mateus; Conflitti, Ida M.; Richardson, Rodney T.; Hoover, Shelley E.; Currie, Robert W.; Giovenazzo, Pierre; Zayed, AmroBackground The mutualistic interaction between entomophilous plants and pollinators is fundamental to the struc- ture of most terrestrial ecosystems. The sensitive nature of this relationship has been disrupted by anthropogenic modifications to natural landscapes, warranting development of new methods for exploring this trophic interaction. Characterizing the composition of pollen collected by pollinators, e.g. Apis mellifera, is a common means of explor- ing this relationship, but traditional methods of microscopic pollen assessment are laborious and limited in their scope. The development of pollen metabarcoding as a method of rapidly characterizing the abundance and diversity of pollen within mixed samples presents a new frontier for this type of work, but metabarcoding may have limita- tions, and validation is warranted before any suite of primers can be confidently used in a research program. We set out to evaluate the utility of an integrative approach, using a set of established primers (ITS2 and rbcL) versus melisso- palynological analysis for characterizing 27 mixed-pollen samples from agricultural sites across Canada. Results Both individual markers performed well relative to melissopalynology at the family level with decreases in the strength of correlation and linear model fits at the genus level. Integrating data from both markers together via a multi-locus approach provided the best rank-based correlation between metagenetic and melissopalynologi- cal data at both the genus (ρ = 0.659; p < 0.001) and family level (ρ = 0.830; p < 0.001). Species accumulation curves indicated that, after controlling for sampling effort, melissopalynological characterization provides similar or higher species richness estimates than either marker. The higher number of plant species discovered via the metabarcoding approach simply reflects the vastly greater sampling effort in comparison to melissopalynology. Conclusions Pollen metabarcoding performed well at characterizing the composition of mixed pollen samples rela- tive to a traditional melissopalynological approach. Limitations to the quantitative application of this method can be addressed by adopting a multi-locus approach that integrates information from multiple markers.Item type:Item, Conserved and unique protein expression patterns across reproductive stage transitions in social hymenopteran queens(Wiley, 2024) McAfee, Alison; Martinet, Baptiste; Przybyla, Kimberly; Degueldre, Félicien; Hoover, Shelley E.; Aron, Serge; Foster, Leonard J.Hymenopteran queens are collectively highly fecund, often long-lived individuals that undergo dramatic physiological changes after they mate and establish a nest. However, the degree to which these changes are conserved among species with different life histories is not well-defined. We conducted a comparative proteomic study investigating differences between reproductive stages (virgin, mated and established queens) of Apis mellifera, Bombus impatiens, B. terrestris and Lasius niger. We analysed haemolymph for all species except L. niger, for which a whole-body analysis was performed due to the small size of these queens. We identified conserved upregulation of proteins involved in anatomical and system development as queens transition to establishing a nest in all species except B. terrestris. We also identified conserved patterns of vitellogenin, vitellogenin receptor and immune-responsive protein (IRP)30, all of which are proteins typically associated with oviposition. However, expression patterns of other immune proteins, heat-shock proteins (HSPs), detoxification enzymes and antioxidant enzymes were more dissimilar, with some species exhibiting similar trends and co-occurrence through reproductive stages, while others exhibited variable or opposite patterns. These conserved and unique profiles likely in part reflect similarities and differences in selective pressure on reproductive stages of each species and may indicate differing abilities to respond to emergent pathogens or environmental change.Item type:Item, Mating-induced patterns of spermathecal fluid protein expression in two eusocial insect species, Lasius niger and Apis mellifera(Springer Nature, 2025) McAfee, Alison; Degueldre, Félicien; Hoover, Shelley E.; Aron, Serge; Foster, Leonard J.Eusocial insect queens exhibit some of the most extreme durations of sperm storage in the animal kingdom. This extended lifespan of sperm within the queen’s storage organ (the spermatheca) after mating is largely sustained by the spermathecal fluid matrix—a rich and proteinaceous secretion that fills the void volume within the spermatheca. Here, we conducted a comparative proteomics study on mating-induced changes in spermathecal fluid of two long-lived hymenopteran species, Lasius niger and Apis mellifera. We found some similarities between species; for example, enolase and other enzymes responsible for carbohydrate metabolism were among the top differentially expressed proteins in both A. mellifera and L. niger. Additionally, both species exhibited post-mating upregulation of catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and Mn-conjugated superoxide dismutase (SOD), all of which are important antioxidant enzymes. However, we also identified notable differences, with Cu/Zn-conjugated SODs being consistently downregulated after mating in L. niger but upregulated in A. mellifera. Likewise, canonical immune effectors (phenoloxidase and lysozyme) showed similar patterns of expression in both species, (with phenoloxidase remaining unchanged and lysozyme increasing after mating), but ferritins, which are multifunctional antioxidant proteins that are also induced by immune challenges, differed, increasing in L. niger but decreasing in A. mellifera. Herein, we discuss expression patterns of these proteins and additional immune proteins, hexamerins, odorant binding proteins, and a key carbohydrate metabolism enzyme (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) in the context of the differential life histories of these two eusocial insect species.Item type:Item, Correction to “Repurposing triphenylmethane dyes to bind to trimers derived from Aβ”(ACS Publications, 2018) Salveson, Patrick J.; Haerianardakani, Sepehr; Thuy-Boun, Alexander; Yoo, Stan; Kreutzer, Adam G.; Demeler, Borries; Nowick, James S.