Autonomic Neurotransmission Laboratory

Autonomic Neurotransmission Laboratory and Pulmonary Neurobiology Laboratory Staff in 2009

The activity of the internal organs is regulated by specialised neuronal pathways known collectively as the autonomic nervous system. In addition, the brain monitors these activities via a complex set of sensory nerves that detect changes in the physico-chemical environment of the body tissues. We have been studying these neural pathways and their interactions with a wide range of target tissues throughout the body as well as their connections within the spinal cord.

We use a wide variety of techniques to study nerve cells and their communication with each other. We use state-of-the-art microscopes to examine the detailed shapes of nerve cells and the connections between them. These results then allow us to generate computerized models of nerve cells and complete maps of the nerve pathways between the spinal cord and different blood vessels and organs. We look directly at the chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) inside each nerve cell using special dyes, and combine these observations with measurements of electrical activity to determine how chemical messengers influence the activity of other nerve cells and organs.

Our new results are helping us to redefine how these neural pathways operate so effectively in a wide range of conditions associated with health and disease. In addition, they can provide a strong framework to identify and investigate new avenues for therapeutic treatments of chronic pain associated with tissue damage and inflammation.

Investigators

Ian L Gibbins, BSc(Hons), PhD, FilDr(hc), Professor of Anatomy & Histology
Jennifer Clarke, BSc(Hons), PhD, Confocal Microscope Facility Manager
Patricia I Vilimas, Technical Officer
Yvette DeGraaf, BMed & PharmBiotech(Hons), Research Associate
Shi-Yong Yuan, PhD, MBBS, Senior Research Officer
Ee-Hiok (Mike) Teo, PhD, Research Associate

Associate Investigators

Judy L Morris, BSc(Ed), BSc(Hons), PhD, FilDr(hc), GradCertClinRes, GradCertArtHistory, Adjunct Associate Professor in Anatomy & Histology
Rainer Haberberger, Mary Overton Neuroscience Research Fellow, Anatomy & Histology
Simon Brookes, Professor of Human Physiology
Vladimir Zagorodnyuk, NHMRC Senior Research Officer in Human Physiology
Marcello Costa, Professor of Neurophysiology

Students

Garreth Kestell, BMedSc (Hons), PhD student

Contacts

Prof Ian Gibbins

Ph: (08) 8204 5271 Int Ph: +61 8 8204 5271 Fax: (08) 8277 0085 Int Fax: +61 8 8277 0085 Email: ian.gibbins@flinders.edu.au

Research Projects

• Mapping sensory neuron projections into the spinal cord with an in vitro tracing technique
• Spinal sensory and autonomic motor pathways activated from the reproductive tract of female guinea-pigs
• Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and the direct visualisation of neuropeptide diffusion
• Control of sympathetic neuronal excitability by convergent hormonal and neural signalling pathways
• Neuroscience and the arts
• Neuroscience and education

Collaborative Research

Robert Phiddian (English, Flinders University): Neuroscience and the analysis of responses to satire in political cartoons and literature.

Teresa Crea (Theatre producer), Ross Gibson (Professor of Contemporary Arts, Sydney), Marcello Costa (Human Physiology, Flinders University): Human exposure - Neuroscience and narrative in digital media.

Media Appearances

• Ian Gibbins - ABC Radio National, "All in the Mind" hosted by Natasha Mitchell, Poetic science: bodies, brains and the art of experimentation. Poetry, electronic music and interviews (April 2008).
• Ian Gibbins - ABC Radio 891 for “With Body in Mind” Arts in Health / SALA / SOS event (2007)
• Ian Gibbins - ABC Adelaide 891: Grant Cameron live to air: the brain and music (2006)

Publications

Morris JL, Gibbins IL (2009) Postganglionic Neurotransmitter, in Encyclopedia of Neuroscience ,eds Binder MD, Hirokawa N, Windhorst U, Springer, Berlin - Heidelberg, Part 16, pp 3202 - 3207 (DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_4695)

Ruthenbeck GS, Carati CJ, Gibbins IL, Reynolds KJ (2008) A virtual reality 3D jigsaw for teaching anatomy. Stud Health Technol Inform, 132:436-8

Blessing WW & Gibbins IL (2008) Autonomic Nervous system. Scholarpedia, 3(7):2787 http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Autonomic_nervous_system

Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "Beanie on the Moon" in Friendly Street Reader, 32

Gibbins IL (2008) Essay: "body, brain and the new science of communication: turns of phrase, figures of speech"; Australian Book Review / Flinders University 2007 Annual Public Lecture. Australian Book Review, 301: 54-58

Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "esplanade" in Blast, 7

Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "field guide" , selected for Best Australian Poems 2008, ed P Rose, Black Inc Press

Gibbins IL ( 2008) Poem "local knowledge" in Page Seventeen, 6 (second place in annual poetry prize)

Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "middle of the road" in Blast, 7

Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "rules for interior design" in Blue Dog, 7 (14)

Gibbins IL (2008) “The B-word”: Review of Mirroring People: The new science of how we connect with others by Marco Iacoboni; The Meaning of the Body: Aesthetics and human understanding by Mark Johnson; The Stuff of Thought: Language as a window into human nature by Stephen Pinker; and Mirrors in the Brain: How our minds share actions, emotions and experience by Giacomo Rizzolatti and Corrado Sinigaglia. Australian Book Review, 306:46-47

Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "turtledove" in P age Seventeen, 6

Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "types of rain" in Going Down Swinging, 27

Gibbins IL (2007) “Eco-futures”: Review of: How a Continent Created a Nation by Libby Robin. UNSW Press, in Australian Book Review, 290, 23

Gibbins IL (2007) “Field Guide”, poem, Australian Book Review, 296, 27

van Wijngaarden P, Brereton HM, Gibbins IL, Coster DJ, Williams KA (2007) Kinetics of strain-dependent differential gene expression in oxygen-induced retinopathy in the rat. Exp Eye Res. 85: 508-517

Zagorodnyuk VP, Gibbins IL, Costa M, Brookes SJH, Gregory SJ (2007) Properties of the major classes of mechanoreceptors in the guinea pig bladder. Journal of Physiology 585: 147-163

Gibbins IL (2007) “The Knowing People”: Review of: The Evolution Revolution: Design without Intelligence by Ken McNamara and John Long,. MUP, in Australian Book Review, 293, 18-19

Gibbins IL (2007) ”With the Body in Mind”, FMC: first public performance of WBM and XCN , electronic music specially composed for the ”With Body in Mind” event; first public reading of poem sequence: After Vesalius

Torsney C, Anderson RL, Ryce-Paul KA, MacDermott AB. (2006) Characterization of sensory neuron subpopulations selectively expressing green fluorescent protein in phosphodiesterase 1C BAC transgenic mice. Molecular Pain 8;2:17

Seymour RS, Runciman S, Baudinette RV. (2006) Development of maximum metabolic rate and pulmonary diffusing capacity in the superprecocial Australian Brush Turkey Alectura lathami: An allometric and morphometric study. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. E-publication, doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2006.03.018 

Clarke JN, Lake J-A, Burrell CJ, Wesselingh SL, Gorry PR and L Peng. (2006) Novel pathway of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 uptake and release in astrocytes. Virology 348:141-155

Engelman HS, Anderson RL, Daniele C, Macdermott AB. (2006) Presynaptic alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors modulate release of inhibitory amino acids in rat spinal cord dorsal horn. Neuroscience 139(2):539-553

Lipset J, Tamblyn M, Madigan K, Roberts P, Cool J C, Runciman SIC, McMillen IC, Robinson J, Owens JA. (2006) Restricted fetal growth and lung development: a morphometric analysis of pulmonary structure. Pediatr. Pulmonol. 41: 1138-1145

Gibbins IL , Morris JL. (2006) Structure of peripheral synapses: autonomic ganglia. Cell Tissue Research 326(2):205-220

Runciman S, Seymour RS, Baudinette RV, Pearson JT. (2005) An allometric study of lung morphology during development in the Australian pelican, Pelecanus conspicillatus, from embryo to adult. Journal of Anatomy 207:365-380

Morris JL, Konig P, Shimizu T, Jobling P, Gibbins IL. (2005) Most peptide-containing sensory neurons lack proteins for exocytotic release and vesicular transport of glutamate. J Comp Neurol. 483(1):1-16 (with cover photograph)

Morris JL, Gibbins IL, Jobling P. (2005) Post-stimulus potentiation of transmission in pelvic ganglia enhances sympathetic dilatation of guinea-pig uterine artery in vitro. J Physiol. 566(Pt 1):189-203 (with perspectives article by W. Jänig, 566:1-2)

van Wijngaarden P, Coster DJ, Brereton HM, Gibbins IL, Williams KA. (2005) Strain-dependent differences in oxygen-induced retinopathy in the inbred rat. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 46(4):1445-52

Jobling P, Gibbins IL, Lewis RJ, Morris JL (2004) Differential expression of calcium channels in sympathetic and parasympathetic preganglionic inputs to neurons in paracervical ganglia of guinea-pigs. Neuroscience 127(2):455-66

Morris JL, Ozols DI, Lewis RJ, Gibbins IL, Jobling P (2004) Differential involvement of N-type calcium channels in transmitter release from vasoconstrictor and vasodilator neurons. Br J Pharmacol. 141(6):961-70

Gibbins IL (2004) Peripheral autonomic pathways. In: The Human Nervous System, eds. Paxinos G, Mai JK, Elsevier, San Diego. pp. 134-189

Baker SJ, Morris JL, Gibbins IL. (2003) Cloning of a C-terminally truncated NK-1 receptor from guinea-pig nervous system. Brain Res Mol Brain Res. 111(1-2):136-47

Gibbins IL, Jobling P, Morris JL. (2003) Functional organization of peripheral vasomotor pathways. Acta Physiol Scand. 177(3):237-45

Jobling P, Gibbins IL, Morris JL. (2003) Functional organization of vasodilator neurons in pelvic ganglia of female guinea pigs: comparison with uterine motor neurons. J Comp Neurol. 459(3):223-41

Gibbins IL, Jobling P, Teo EH, Matthew SE, Morris JL. (2003) Heterogeneous expression of SNAP-25 and synaptic vesicle proteins by central and peripheral inputs to sympathetic neurons. J Comp Neurol. 459(1): 25-43

Lee DR, Helps SC, Gibbins IL, Nilsson, Sims NR: (2003) Losses of NG2 and NeuN immunoreactivity but not astrocytic markers during early reperfusion following severe focal cerebral ischemia. Brain Res 989(2):221-30

Gibbins IL, Teo EH, Jobling P, Morris JL. (2003) Synaptic density, convergence, and dendritic complexity of prevertebral sympathetic neurons. J Comp Neurol. 455(3):285-98

Morris JL, Jobling P, Gibbins IL. (2002) Botulinum toxin A attenuates release of norepinephrine but not neuropeptide Y from vasoconstrictor neurons. American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology 283: H2627-H2635

Anderson RL, Jobling P, Matthew SE, Gibbins IL. (2002) Development of convergent synaptic inputs to subpopulations of autonomic neurons. Journal of Comparative Neurology 447: 218-233

Morris JL, Jobling P, Shimizu T, Gibbins IL. (2002) Interleukin-1 receptor immunoreactivity in sympathetic vascular and non-vascular neurons in guinea-pig coeliac ganglion. Neuroscience Letters 333: 54-58

Anderson RL, Jobling P, Gibbins IL. (2001) Development of electrophysiological and morphological diversity in autonomic neurons. Journal of Neurophysiology 86:1237-1251

Jobling P, Messenger JP, Gibbins IL (2001) Differential expression of functionally identified and immunohistochemically identified NK1 receptors on sympathetic neurons. Journal of Neurophysiology 85:1888-1898

Morris JL, Jobling P, Gibbins IL. (2001) Differential inhibition by botulinum neurotoxin A of cotransmitters released from autonomic vasodilator neurons. American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology 281: H2124-H2132

Shimizu T, Morris JL, Gibbins IL. (2001) Expression of immunoreactivity to neurokinin-1-receptor by subsets of cranial parasympathetic neurons: correlation with neuropeptides, nitric oxide synthase and pathways. Experimental Neurology 172: 293-306

Anderson RL, Morris JL, Gibbins IL (2001) Neurochemical differentiation of functionally-distinct populations of autonomic neurons. Journal of Comparative Neurology 429:419-435

Morris JL, Anderson RL, Gibbins IL (2001) Neuropeptide Y immunoreactivity in cutaneous sympathetic and sensory neurons during development of the guinea pig. J Comp Neurol. 27; 437(3):321-34

Axelsson M, Olsson C, Gibbins I, Holmgren S, Franklin CE. (2001) Nitric oxide, a potent vasodilator of the aortic anastomosis in the estuarine crocodile, Crocodylus porosus. General and Comparative Endocrinology 122:198-204

Morris JL, Lindberg CEY, Gibbins IL (2000): Different levels of immunoreactivity for synaptosomal-associated protein of 25kDa in vasoconstrictor and vasodilator axons of guinea-pigs. Neuroscience Letters 294:167-170

Gibbins IL, Jobling P, Messenger JP, Teo EH, Morris JL (2000): Neuronal morphology and the synaptic organisation of sympathetic ganglia. Journal of the Autonomic Nervous System 81:104-109

Gibbins IL, Morris JL (2000): Pathway specific expression of neuropeptides and autonomic control of the vasculature. Regulatory Peptides 93:93-107

Updated December 15, 2009