Holland College

To facilitate the effective sharing of teaching tools among faculty and the development of deep subject knowledge in support of teaching, a group of faculty from predominantly undergraduate institutions has established a virtual community of inorganic chemists, IONiC (Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists). Our mission is to enhance the inorganic chemistry classroom and laboratory experience for students and faculty members through the development of a vibrant, collaborative, and open community. VIPEr, the Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource, is a Web site that forms the online home for our community. VIPEr is an interactive Web resource that combines a repository of learning objects (small instructional units such as an in-class activity, an exam problem, or a lab) with social networking tools (such as forums and comment threads) to form a rich virtual community of practice among inorganic chemistry faculty worldwide. Registration and access to all materials are freely available.

β‐ODAP is a neurotoxin that is found in the seeds of the grass pea, Lathyrus satvius, and is reported to cause neurolathyrism. The mechanism by which β‐OD AP causes neurolathyrism is not well understood, but it has been shown to be a transportable inhibitor of the transporter, system xc−. System xc− is involved in the exchange of cystine and glutamate across the plasma membrane in order to supply the cell with the cysteine necessary to maintain cellular glutathione levels. Previous studies in our lab have shown that system xc− cell surface expression is regulated by the redox state of the cell and cell culture density. In this study, we used β‐ODAP to inhibit cystine uptake by system xc− in order to reduce cellular glutathione levels in cultured glioma cells, and we subsequently examined the susceptibility of these cells to oxidative cell death. We have shown that effect of β‐ODAP on cellular glutathione levels and susceptibility to oxidative cell death is also dependent on cell culture density, with confluent cultures demonstrating an increased capacity to maintain cellular gluathione levels and resist oxidative cell death compared to non‐confluent cells. We hypothesize that the observed differences in susceptibility of confluent and non‐confluent cultures to β‐ODAP are a result of reduced capacity of non‐confluent cells to increase cell surface expression of System xc− when the oxidative load of the cell is increased.

This department is devoted to shorter reports on research in the communications field. Readers are invited to submit summaries of investigative studies interesting for content, method or implications for further research.