Adhering to the original philosophy that has guided the Alcohol Research Center through its first period of support we bring together researchers with a background in biophysics, biochemistry, pharmacology and pathology around the central theme of """"""""Alcohol and the Cell"""""""". The common focus of the different research components remains the elucidation of the relationship between the structural and functional effects of ethanol on cells and subcellular structures, the adaptations occurring during long-term exposure of the organism to ethanol, and the molecular basis for irreversible cell damage and collagen synthesis associated with long-term ethanol intake. Studies focus on a variety of different tissues, including neuronal cells, pancreatic acini, hepatocytes. erythrocytes and embryonic tissue. derived both from experimental animals and from human sources. Techniques to be used include electron paramagneric resonance, 13C, 2H- and 31p nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy fluorescence polarization, fluorescence lifetime and energy transfer measurements, real-time fluorescence microscopic imaging of single cell calcium transients. HPLC separation of lipids and lipid derivatives both on analytical and preoperative scale, capillary gas chromatography and molecular biological techniques for detection of mRNA. Individual projects focus on the molecular basis of membrane tolerance induced by chronic ethanol treatment in different tissues; the lipid-protein and lipid-lipid interactions at the membrane surface, the chemical analysis of membrane lipid components; the interaction of ethanol with cellular signal transduction pathways; with excitation-contraction coupling in the heart; and with neuronal structure and activity; the cellular basis of the fetal alcohol syndrome; analysis of mRNA levels for different proteins associated with collagen synthesis; effects of chronic ethanol exposure on extracellular matrix secretion and on the sensitivity to oxidative stress in relation to cell injury; and the development of non-invasive liver function tests by 31p NMR. We hope that these studies will contribute to elucidating the relationship between ethanol-induced alterations at the molecular and cellular level and the development of ethanol-related diseases.
