Dalmo Mendonca

February 24, 2011

MethamphetamineResearching Signal Transduction

• Why is doing research about meth important?

• What do we know so far?

• What do we want to know?• Hypothesize • Acquire tools & resources• Research!

• How can we use our new findings?

Overview

Importance: Meth

• Cocaine

• PCP (Angel’s Dust)

• Other Amphetamines

• Pharmaceuticals• Anxiolytics• ADD & ADHD medication• Ritalin, Concerta, Adderall, and

Desoxyn

Importance: Similar Drugs

Current Scientific Model

The New Hypothesis• Second messenger cascade

• Possibility of an intermediary protein

• Oxidoreductase?

• DAT Regulation

• Shape-dependent?

• Sensitivity to Phosphorylation

• Mechanism of DAT depletion

• Denaturation?

Research

• Results will reveal more regulatory steps• More pharmaceuticals can interact with more

steps• This leads to better rehabilitation methods

• Understanding meth = understanding Rx• Safer ADD & ADHD medication• Better/More effective anxiolytics and

antidepressants

• For the Future: Safe recreational drug use?

Applications

• notevenonce.com

• utulsa.edu/academics/colleges/College-of-Engineering-and-Natural-Sciences/Departments-and-Schools/Department-of-Chemistry-and-Biochemistry

• ou.edu/content/tulsa.html

• utulsa.edu/academics/colleges/College-of-Engineering-and-Natural-Sciences/Departments-and-Schools/Department-of-Biological-Science.aspx

• ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC549289

• ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC368179

• molecularbrain.com/content/2/1/10

Sources & Resources

Questions?