Peptide Neurobiology Laboratory
Laboratory Head
A/Prof Andrew L Gundlach BSc (Hons) (Mon) Dip Ed (Mon) PhD (Melb)
Contact Details
Email: | |
Phone: | +61 (0)3 8344 7324 |
Fax: | +61 (0)3 9348 1707 |
Number of
Staff: 3
- Pei-Juan Shen BSc (Hons) (East China Normal) PhD (Mon)
- Qian Sang BMed (Beijing Medical) PhD (Melb)
- Sherie Ma BSc (Hons) (Mon) PhD (Melb)
Students: 5
- PhD
- Loretta Piccenna BSc (Hons) (Mon)
- Katayoun Sedaghat BNurs (Iran) MSc (Shaheed-Beheshti)
- Avantika Banerjee BBiomed Sci (Hons) (Melb)
- Craig Smith BBiomed Sci (Hons) (Melb)
- UROP
- Julia Freidgeim 3rd year BBiomed Sci (Melb)
Research Interests
Neuropeptides are widely distributed throughout the body and they commonly co-exist with and complement actions of classic neurotransmitters. The functions of neuropeptides via their G-protein-coupled receptors range from neural or glial transmitter to hormone and growth factor.
Much evidence indicates that neuropeptides are of particular importance when the nervous system is challenged by stress, injury or drug abuse. These features and the large number of neuropeptides and peptide receptors provide opportunities for the discovery of new drug targets for treatment of nervous-system disorders.
The peptides relaxin, relaxin-3 and insulin-like peptide-3 (INSL3) have various essential biological roles. Relaxin acts in peripheral tissues to regulate collagen turnover and stimulate growth, angiogenesis and vasodilatation. INSL3 is essential for germ cell maturation and may regulate fertility in men and women. Importantly, receptors for both these hormones are present in key circuits in the brain, but their biological importance is still to be discovered. Similarly, relaxin-3 is an abundant neuropeptide recently discovered in our laboratory, and it also has a range of potential roles in animal and human behaviours, including feeding, stress responses and learning and memory. Thus, we are working to determine the precise biological roles of these peptides and their G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and to exploit their clinical potential.
Current Projects
- Relaxin-3 regulation of septohippocampal theta rhythm and cognition
- Role of relaxin-3 systems in arousal/motivation, stress responses and circadian rhythms
- Behavioural actions of relaxin-3 signaling – insights from a peptide gene knockout mouse
- Relaxin hormone systems in brain – studies in a receptor-gene knockout/reporter mouse
- Insulin-like peptide-3 receptors in corticothalamic- basal ganglia- and limbic- circuits
- Mapping relaxin-family peptide-receptor systems in postmortem human and primate brain
These studies involve collaborations with scientists at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC (USA), the Universities of Valencia and Autonoma de Madrid (Spain), Jagiellonian University (Poland), the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Baylor College of Medicine (USA), and the University of Sydney.
PhD and Honours projects are available to study the anatomy, regulation and function of the relaxin family peptide-receptor systems. Students will undergo training in various techniques including molecular and cell biology, peptide/receptor neurochemistry, and animal behavioural testing. Students will also be able to interact with our international collaborators in the USA and Europe, with the opportunity to conduct some of their studies overseas.
Laboratory Techniques
- Neuroanatomy – biochemical and functional mapping of circuitry related to peptide pathways and associated behaviours
- Histochemistry/molecular biology - immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization and in vitro autoradiography of peptides, receptors and other markers; real time-, RT-PCR peptide/receptor gene analysis
- Physiology/pharmacology - small animal surgery, whole animal telemetry recordings and behavioural tests after peptide treatment
- Behavioural neuroscience - motor, cognitive and affective test battery studies of gene-deletion mouse strains
Funding
- National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia)
- Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, LLC
- Brain Foundation Australia
- ANZ Trustees Medical Research & Technology (Victoria)
- The Feilman, Eirene Lucas and GW Vowell Foundations
Publications and Articles
For PubMed link use “Gundlach AL” as unique author search
Selected Recent Publications
Research Articles
Burazin TCD, Bathgate RAD, Macris M, Layfield S, Gundlach AL, Tregear GW. (2002) Restricted, but abundant, expression of the novel rat gene-3 (R3) relaxin in the dorsal tegmental region of brain. Journal of Neurochemistry 82: 1553-1557.
Shen P-J Larm JA, Gundlach AL. (2003) Expression and plasticity of galanin systems in cortical neurons, oligodendrocyte progenitors and proliferative zones in normal brain and after spreading depression. European Journal of Neuroscience 18: 1362-1376.
Jungnickel SR-F, Gundlach AL. (2005) [125I]-Galanin binding in brain of wildtype, and galanin- and GalR1- knockout mice: Strain and species differences in GalR1 density and distribution. Neuroscience 131: 407-421.
Ma S, Roozendaal B, Burazin TCD, Tregear GW, McGaugh JL, Gundlach AL. (2005) Relaxin in the basolateral amygdala impairs consolidation of fear memory. European Journal of Neuroscience 22: 2117-2122.
Fu P., Shen P-J, Zhao C-X, Scott DJ, Samuel CS, Wade JD, Tregear GW, Bathgate RAD, Gundlach AL. (2006) Leucine rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 8 in mature glomeruli of developing and adult rat kidney and inhibition by INSL3 of glomerular cell proliferation. Journal of Endocrinology 189: 397-408.
Ma S, Shen P-J, Burazin TCD, Tregear GW, Gundlach AL. (2006) Comparative localization of LGR7 (RXFP1) mRNA and [33P]-relaxin binding sites in rat brain: Restricted somatic co-expression a clue to relaxin action? Neuroscience 141: 329-344.
Ma S, Bonaventure P, Ferraro T, Shen P-J, Burazin TCD, Bathgate RAD, Liu C, Tregear GW, Sutton SW, Gundlach AL. (2007) Relaxin-3 in GABA projection neurons of nucleus incertus suggests widespread influence on forebrain circuits via G-protein-coupled receptor-135 in the rat. Neuroscience 144: 165-190.
Recent Reviews
Bathgate, RAD, Burazin, TCD, Samuel, CS, Gundlach, AL, Tregear, GW. (2003) Novel relaxin peptides and receptors. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism 14: 207-213.
Ma S, Gundlach AL. (2007) Relaxin-family peptide and receptor systems in brain. Insights from recent anatomical and functional studies. In: Relaxin and Related Peptides, Agoulnik AI (Ed), Landes Bioscience, Houston, TX, pp 1-19.
Lang, R, Gundlach, AL, Kofler B (2007) The galanin peptide family: Receptor pharmacology, pleiotropic biological actions, and implications in health and disease. Pharmacology and Therapeutics 115: 177-207.
Research
