This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.In ongoing research in our laboratory we have demonstrated that prenatal nicotine exposure affects lung development by the passage of nicotine across the placenta to interact with nicotinic receptors in developing lung. However, the mechanism by which this leads to alterations in lung development remain unknown. Thus the purpose of this project is to work towards characterizing that mechanism by developing new techniques to look at the signaling events associated with the interaction of nicotine with monkey lung cells. This project has 2 specific aims: first, to develop electrophysiologic methods to characterize the activity of nicotinic receptors in monkey bronchial epithelial cells and, second, to develop single cell imaging techniques of monkey bronchial epithelial. Use of electrophysiology will allow answering the key questions of whether nicotine is activating or inactivating nicotinic receptors and how chronic nicotine affects cholinergic signaling pathways. Development of single cell imaging will allow analysis of effects of nicotine and vitamin C on nitric oxide signaling - one possible mediator of the effects of nicotine on lung development.
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