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Role of Angiotensin II in Responses to Environmental Heat Stress and Acclimation
Principal Investigator: Dr. Christopher C. Barney
Research in the Barney laboratory is focused on regulatory physiology, in particular the way the cardiovascular, water balance, and thermoregulatory systems interact to maintain homeostasis in response to environmental conditions. Research in my laboratory explores the hypothesis that the hormone, angiotensin II (Ang II), maintains physiologic homeostasis in response to environmental stressors. Ang II is formed in the peripheral circulation during conditions of dehydration, hypotension, and general stress and functions to increase blood pressure, retain sodium and water, and stimulate thirst. Ang II is also formed in the brain and acts as a neuromodulator that has some of the same actions as peripherally generated Ang II. Ang II actions in the brain may also play a role in regulating metabolic rate and body temperature in response to changing environmental temperatures. Current work in my laboratory is aimed at determining the effects of heat acclimation on central responsiveness to
Ang II and the expression of the mRNA and protein for type 1 and type 2 Ang II receptors in the brain, investigating the possible role of type 1 and type 2 Ang II receptors in thirst induced by thermal dehydration, and examining the role of Ang II in the regulation of metabolic rate and body temperature under conditions of high peripheral Ang II, such as dehydration. We are also beginning studies on the role of Angiotensin, which is produced by the actions of a recently discovered angiotensin converting enzyme 2, on water balance and thermoregulation during heat exposure. Undergraduate students in the Barney laboratory participate in all aspects of the research, from experimental design, through animal surgery and carrying out the experiments, to communicating their work at professional meetings and through publications in the scientific literature.
Representative Publications:
- Babcock, L.*, C. Rodriquez*, C. C. Barney, and G. Fraley. 2006. ICV galanin-like peptide increases metabolic rate in male rats. FASEB J. 20: A830, 2006.
- Gayheart, K.* and C. C. Barney. 2005. Endogenous angiotensin II does not regulate oxygen consumption and core temperature in rats. FASEB J., 19:A1194.
- Burnatowska-Hledin, M. A., J. B. Kossoris*, C. J. Van Dort*, R. L. Shearer*, P. Zhao, D. A. Murrey*, J. L. Abbott*, C. E. Kan*, and C. C. Barney. 2004. T47 D breast cancer cell growth is inhibited by expression of VACM-1, a cul-5 gene. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 319:817-825.
- Barney, C. C., D. M. Kurylo*, and J. L. Grobe*. 2003. Thermal dehydration-induced thirst in lithium-treated rats. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 75:341-347.
- Burnatowska-Hledin, M., A. Zeneberg*, A. Roulo*, J. Grobe*, P. Zhao, P. I. Lelkes, P. Clare, and C. Barney. 2001. Expression of VACM-1 protein in cultured rat endothelial cells is linked to the cell cycle. Endothelium. 8:49-63.
- Barney, C. C., G. L. Smith*, and M. M. Folkerts*. 1999. Thermal dehydration-induced thirst in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Am. J. Physiol. 276 (Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol. 45): R1303-R1310.
- Barney, C. C. 1997. Effects of preloads of water and saline on thermal dehydration-induced thirst. Physiol. Behav. 61:763-769.
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