研究领域

Anatomy

The main aim of my lab's research is to better understand the effects of ageing on nervous system function. It is well known that the world's population is ageing and soon there will be more people over the age of 65 than there are children. If we are to improve the quality of life of the aged, then we must first understand how ageing affects the body's various physiological systems. As the nervous system has an important role in most functions, its preservation with ageing is paramount. We are primarily using molecular approaches and focusing on ageing-related changes in the cell's two genomes - the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. It is well-established that both genomes accumulate mutations with ageing, although it is not completely clear whether these mutations are more detrimental to cell function if they accumulate more so in one of the genomes as opposed to the other. It is also not known whether the mutation accumulations occur in a cell-specific manner. This is particularly important for the nervous system with its highly heterogeneous cell population. A number of nervous system functions appear more susceptible to the ageing process than others. For example, the special senses of hearing, vision and balance are particularly prone, although it remains to be determined whether the peripheral components of these systems (cochlea, retina, and vestibular apparatus, respectively) are more affected than their central nervous system connections and processes. Cognitive function and motor control are two more nervous system functions that are affected by the ageing process as can be readily observed in the aged population. We are characterising the genomic changes in specific populations of cells within these ageing-affected systems. For example, using state-of-the-art, laser based microdissection, we can collect midbrain dopamine neurons, which play an important role in motor control as can be appreciated from Parkinson's disease, at different ages and determine changes in mitochondrial DNA and the expression level of various genes. Similar approaches are being used for spinal cord motor neurons and inner ear vestibular hair cells. Knowing how ageing affects the nervous system is important, but we also need to be able to intervene if we are to improve the quality of life of aged individuals. Calorie restriction, whereby the daily calorie intake is reduced by 20-40% (but without malnutrition), is the only presently known intervention that retards the ageing process, at least in animal models. We are establishing CR to determine whether the ageing-related changes we see in the various cell populations of interest are modified by this intervention. If this is the case, we will then set out to determine how CR achieves this. Research methods used in the lab include: Animal models Laser based microdissection Immunocytochemistry RNA and DNA techniques Real-time and end-point PCR Immunofluorescence microscopy Cryosectioning

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2016 James MH, Quinn RK, Ong LK, Levi EM, Smith DW, Dickson PW, Dayas CV, 'Rapamycin reduces motivated responding for cocaine and alters GluA1 expression in the ventral but not dorsal striatum.', Eur J Pharmacol, 784 147-154 (2016) 2016 Murray HC, Maltby VE, Smith DW, Bowden NA, 'Nucleotide excision repair deficiency in melanoma in response to UVA', Experimental Hematology and Oncology, 5 (2016) [C1] 2015 McIlroy DJ, Bigland M, White AE, Hardy BM, Lott N, Smith DW, Balogh ZJ, 'Cell necrosis-independent sustained mitochondrial and nuclear DNA release following trauma surgery', JOURNAL OF TRAUMA AND ACUTE CARE SURGERY, 78 282-288 (2015) [C1] 2015 Quinn RK, Brown AL, Goldie BJ, Levi EM, Dickson PW, Smith DW, et al., 'Distinct miRNA expression in dorsal striatal subregions is associated with risk for addiction in rats', Translational Psychiatry, 5 (2015) [C1] 2015 Parkinson GM, Dayas CV, Smith DW, 'Age-related gene expression changes in substantia nigra dopamine neurons of the rat.', Mech Ageing Dev, 149 41-49 (2015) [C1] 2015 Thomas J, Garg ML, Smith DW, 'Effects of dietary supplementation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on hippocampal gene expression in streptozotocin induced diabetic C57Bl/6 mice', Journal of Nutrition and Intermediary Metabolism, 2 2-7 (2015) [C1] 2014 James MH, Quinn RK, Ong LK, Levi EM, Charnley JL, Smith DW, et al., 'mTORC1 inhibition in the nucleus accumbens 'protects' against the expression of drug seeking and 'relapse' and is associated with reductions in GluA1 AMPAR and CAMKIIa levels.', Neuropsychopharmacology, 39 1694-1702 (2014) [C1] 2014 McIlroy DJ, Jarnicki AG, Au GG, Lott N, Smith DW, Hansbro PM, Balogh ZJ, 'Mitochondrial DNA neutrophil extracellular traps are formed after trauma and subsequent surgery', Journal of Critical Care, 29 1133.e1-1133.e5 (2014) [C1] 2014 Thomas J, Garg ML, Smith DW, 'Dietary resveratrol supplementation normalizes gene expression in the hippocampus of streptozotocin-induced diabetic C57Bl/6 mice', Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 25 313-318 (2014) [C1] 2014 Parkinson GM, Dayas CV, Smith DW, 'Increased mitochondrial DNA deletions in substantia nigra dopamine neurons of the aged rat.', Current aging science, 7 155-160 (2014) [C2] 2014 James MH, Campbell EJ, Walker FR, Smith DW, Richardson HN, Hodgson DM, Dayas CV, 'Exercise reverses the effects of early life stress on orexin cell reactivity in male but not female rats', Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8 (2014) [C1] 2013 Balogh ZJ, McIlroy DJ, Smith DW, Hansbro PM, 'The origin and the role of mitochondrial DNA in postinjury inflammation', Journal of Critical Care, 28 1099-1100 (2013) [C3] 2013 Thomas J, Garg ML, Smith DW, 'Altered expression of histone and synaptic plasticity associated genes in the hippocampus of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice', Metabolic Brain Disease, 28 613-618 (2013) [C1] 2013 Thomas J, Garg ML, Smith DW, 'Dietary supplementation with resveratrol and/or docosahexaenoic acid alters hippocampal gene expression in adult C57Bl/6 mice', Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 24 1735-1740 (2013) [C1] 2013 Cahif A, Parkinson GM, Dayas CV, Smith DW, 'Characterisation of mitochondrial DNA deletions by long-PCR in central nervous system regions of young, middle- and old-aged rats.', Current Aging Science, 6 232-238 (2013) [C1] 2013 Brown AL, Day TA, Dayas CV, Smith DW, 'Purity and Enrichment of Laser-Microdissected Midbrain Dopamine Neurons', BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL, (2013) [C1] 2012 Barreto RDA, Walker FR, Dunkley PR, Day TA, Smith DW, 'Fluoxetine prevents development of an early stress-related molecular signature in the rat infralimbic medial prefrontal cortex. Implications for depression?', BMC Neuroscience, 13 1-12 (2012) [C1] 2012 Dayas CV, Smith DW, Dunkley PR, 'An emerging role for the mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) in 'pathological' protein translation: Relevance to cocaine addiction', Frontiers in Pharmacology, 3 1-12 (2012) [C1] 2011 James MH, Charnley JL, Flynn JR, Smith DW, Dayas CV, 'Propensity to 'relapse' following exposure to cocaine cues is associated with the recruitment of specific thalamic and epithalamic nuclei', Neuroscience, 199 235-242 (2011) [C1] 2011 James MH, Charnley JL, Levi EM, Jones E, Yeoh JW, Smith DW, Dayas CV, 'Orexin-1 receptor signalling within the ventral tegmental area, but not the paraventricular thalamus, is critical to regulating cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking', International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 14 684-690 (2011) [C1]