Physiology is a wide spanning discipline, and it is interesting to follow its journey into the unknown in different organs, and with ever more sophisticated methods. This research is reflected by high quality publications in physiological journals. Have a look!
The results of this research as well as of comparative physiology and mathematical modelling, provide ever growing insight into the body’s functions, mechanisms of disease and new therapies, including gene therapy and development of vaccines. The close interaction between basic physiological research and clinical work, has improved human health and life span and holds even more promises for the future.
A most interesting aspect of current physiology is that, unlike in past centuries, novel models and techniques have reduced or replaced the need to destroy or dissect organs and tissues to improve understanding of function. Now we can learn from growing cells and stimulating them to form tissues and even “organs”. It has become almost routine for physiologists to manipulate gene expression to study function in the intact animal. We are obtaining novel and unique insights into the principles of self-organisation of cells and their mutual interactions. Exciting times, indeed!
Physiology is a wide spanning discipline, and it is interesting to follow its journey into the unknown in different organs, and with ever more sophisticated methods. This research is reflected by high quality publications in physiological journals. Have a look!
Jaume Padilla et al.
NEW & NOTEWORTHY Obesity and insulin resistance accelerate arterial stiffening and hypertension, increasing cardiovascular risk. Activation of the epithelial sodium channel (ENAC) contributes to vascular stiffening in preclinical models, yet the vascular effects of ENAC inhibition in adults with obesity and insulin resistance remain poorly characterized. The authors demonstrate that low-dose amiloride reduces blood pressure and improves arterial stiffness in adults with overweight or obesity and features of metabolic syndrome, without major safety concerns.
Jiahui Young et al.
NEW & NOTEWORTHY The interactions between gut microbiota and enteric glial cells (EGCs) are increasingly recognized. This study reveals that EGCs possess bacterial phagocytosis and antigen-presentation functions, which are modulated differently by various bacteria. Specifically, Bifidobacterium longum (B.l) relieves DSS-induced colitis by enhancing PD-L1 expression on EGCs and promoting Treg cell differentiation through EGC-mediated immune regulation. Understanding the dual role of EGCs as both neural and immune cells expands our comprehension of gut microbiota-neural-immune interaction in intestinal health.
et al.
NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study demonstrates that endurance training in the early-active phase induces greater performance adaptations than late-active phase training in mice, resulting in overcoming diurnal differences in exercise performance, despite lower absolute training volumes. These findings reveal exercise timing influences training efficiency, likely via circadian regulation of skeletal muscle metabolism. This work identifies time-of-day as a biologically relevant and underappreciated variable contributing to the heterogeneity of exercise responses, even in tightly controlled preclinical models.
Much more can be found in this month’s selection of articles from APS journals!
These new and engaging video feature from The Journal of Physiology aims to deliver short and informative research snapshots directly from the authors of research papers selected by the Editors of the journal!
The latest topic relates to an article published by Yoshifumi Takahata, Yuki Kasashima, Takuya Yoshioka et al in PNAS (A Period1 inducer specifically advances circadian clock in mice.)
Significance
The authors reveal that Mic-628 specifically and sufficiently induces Per1, provoking an abrupt phase advance in mouse behavioral rhythms, regardless of the timing of administration. Disruption of tandem E-boxes in the mPer1 promoter abolishes most of both mPer1 induction and phase-advancing activity, highlighting their role as unique binding sites for the CLOCK–BMAL1 complex. Mass spectrometry identified CRY1 as a potential target, with Mic-628 enhancing CRY1 binding to CLOCK-BMAL1, which tightly correlates with Per1 induction. Moreover, the autonomous PER1-mediated feedback repression likely explains the consistent phase-advancing profile. Overall, Mic-628 exerts its distinctive effect through precise molecular interactions that unveil an additional layer of transcriptional control within the circadian clock. This makes Mic-628 a promising therapeutic candidate for circadian disruptions.
PSJ celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023. On this occasion the Journal of Physiology compiled a collection of some of the most influential research published by Japanese authors in this journal. Have a closer look here!
DPG’s latest paper of the month (Henrike Planert et al) was recently published in Nature Neuroscience
Understanding the functional principles of the human brain requires deep insight into its neuronal and network physiology. In superficial layers of temporal cortex, molecular and morphological subtypes of glutamatergic excitatory pyramidal neurons have been described, but subtyping based on electrophysiological parameters has not been performed. The extent to which pyramidal neuron subtypes contribute to the specialization of physiological interactions by forming synaptic subnetworks remains unclear. Based on whole-cell patch-clamp recordings of more than 1,400 layer 2-3 (L2-3) pyramidal neurons in acute slices of human temporal cortex the authors extract principles of neuronal and synaptic physiology along with anatomy and functional synaptic connectivity. They also show robust classification of pyramidal neurons into four electrophysiological subtypes, corroborated by differences in morphology and decipher subtype-specific synaptic interactions. Principles of microcircuit organization are found to be conserved at the individual level.