Physiology

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The Department of Physiology at the University of Otago is the largest Department of Physiology in New Zealand. Established in 1905, the Otago Department of Physiology celebrated its 100th anniversary mid-2005. Over the years we have made major contributions to undergraduate science, physical education, medical, dental, pharmacy and physiotherapy education and we are one of the larger departments in the University. We have contributed markedly to biomedical research both nationally and internationally and have trained many postgraduates, a number of whom have attained high international reputation for their research.

Recent Deposits

A protective role for exercise in the age-related loss of muscle mass

Nielsen, Kathrine Bjerregaard (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and function is an impending health issue for the vast majority of people as they reach their sixties and this decline progressively reduces life quality for the affected ...
COMMD10 Regulates Protein Trafficking

Ware, Adam William (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) is a heterotrimeric, amiloride-sensitive Na+ channel located at the plasma membrane of various tissues, including kidneys and the vasculature. ENaC abundance and activity at the plasma ...
Characterising the effect of shear force on the activity of the epithelial sodium and acid sensing ion channels

Barth, Daniel Stefan (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

Mechanosensation is the ubiquitous ability of cells to sense and respond to their mechanical environment and has been linked to the activation of ion channels. Members of the DEG/ENaC ion channel protein family including ...
A Role for Calcium Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II in the Early Development of Atherosclerosis

Worthington, Luke (Thesis, Master of Science, 2017)

Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of cardiovascular death in the developed world. Endothelial dysfunction is an early event in the development of atherosclerosis and is characterised by increased reactive oxygen species ...
Human Colonic Organoids: An Epithelial Barrier Model of Crohn's Disease

Gadeock, Safina (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

It’s unknown if the increased intestinal permeability in patients with Crohn’s Disease (CD) is a cause or consequence of inflammation. In vivo, interactions between the microbiota, epithelium and immune system prevent ...
Bidirectional Control of Synaptic Transmission by Endocannabinoids from Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Neurons

Jamieson, Bradley (Thesis, Master of Science, 2017)

The stress response is a physiological process which allows an organism to rapidly change its function in order to cope with a changing environment and maintain internal balance. The neuroendocrine stress response is ...
The role of the microtubule cytoskeleton and Myosin-Vc in the anterograde trafficking of KCa3.1 to the basolateral membrane of polarised epithelial cells.

Farquhar, Rachel (Thesis, Master of Science, 2017)

The intermediate conductance, Ca2+-activated K+ channel (KCa3.1) is targeted to the basolateral membrane in polarised epithelia where it plays an essential role in promoting trans-epithelial ion transport. KCa3.1 is expressed ...
The proportion of fast and slow neuromuscular junctions in young and old mice

Lloyd, Jordan (Thesis, Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences with Honours, 2017)

Human skeletal mass and strength increase from birth until ~35 years of age, thereafter a decline in mass and strength occurs in a process called sarcopenia. Beyond 60 years of age muscular weakness falls to a point where ...
Cardiovascular microRNAs: early modulators in the pathogenesis of diabetic heart disease

Rawal, Shruti (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

Diabetic heart disease (DHD) is often unrecognized in the subclinical stage due to absence of pathognomonic signs, thereby restricting timely diagnosis and management of disease. Identifying early modulators of disease ...
Development of Novel Triadin-Based Biosensor for the Quantification of H2O2 in the Cardiac Dyad Microdomain

McLachlan, Julia Jocelyn (Thesis, Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences with Honours, 2016)

Release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), mediated by the activation of the ryanodine receptor (RyR2), initiates myocardial contraction. This process of Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release is confined within a 20 nm ...
Functional Role of Uric Acid in Cardiac Stem Cell Homeostasis

Cheakhun, Cindy (Thesis, Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences with Honours, 2016)

In New Zealand, cardiovascular disease (CVD) affects 1 in 20 adults and is the leading cause of mortality. Cardiac pathophysiology along with diabetes mellitus is historically associated with glucose metabolism, but recently ...
beta1- and beta2-adrenoceptor cardiovascular responsiveness in the type II Zucker Diabetic Fatty rat model

Cook, Rosalind (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016)

Sympathetic nervous system dysfunction is prevalent in diabetes. It is characterised by increased sympathetic nerve activity and elevated circulating catecholamine levels and altered β-adrenoceptor (β-AR) responsiveness. ...
Regulation of Oxytocin Magnocellular Neurosecretory Cells by Kisspeptin in Late Pregnancy

Seymour, Alexander James (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016)

Oxytocin magnocellular neurosecretory cells (MNCs) are located in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. MNC activity during parturition results in secretion of oxytocin into the ...
Altered metabotropic glutamate receptor activity in the early stages of spinocerebellar ataxia type 1.

Power, Emmet Matthew (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016)

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is an autosomal dominant, progressive neurodegenerative motor disorder with no known cure or palliative treatment. SCA1 results from a CAG trinucleotide expansion of the ataxin-1 gene. ...
Exploring the physiological and functional differences between stem cells isolated from the human right atrium and left ventricle

Donnelly, Hayden (Thesis, Bachelor of Medical Science with Honours, 2016)

Recent discovery of resident cardiac stem cells (CSCs), capable of cardiac lineage differentiation and paracrine mediated effects, suggest promise for cardiac tissue repair. The best site in the heart for obtaining CSCs ...
Establishing an in vitro condition to study the functional relevance of cardiac-specific micrornas

Parshu Ram, Thrishila (Thesis, Master of Science, 2016)

Ischemic heart disease is a leading cause of mortality among individuals with Type 2 diabetes. Since their discovery in 1993, microRNAs (miRs) are described to be short non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate ...
Maturation of the Caco-2 Cell Monolayer impedes the uptake of outer Membrane Vesicules

Braun, Jonathan Heinrich (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016)

It has been suggested that internalization of OMV secreted by gram-negative bacteria by the intestinal epithelium is a means of inter-kingdom communication. But most previous studies of OMV internalization have used ...
Modulation of colonic stem cell proliferation by bacterial components

van Hout, Isabelle (Thesis, Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences with Honours, 2015)

The intestine is home to a large number of commensal microbes, which are restricted to the intestinal lumen by the epithelial barrier. In the colon, which has the greatest number of commensal microbes, the epithelial barrier ...
The role of retromer in the epithelial sodium channel trafficking pathway

Geda, Anna Caterina (Thesis, Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences with Honours, 2015)

The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) is a protein located at the apical membrane of polarised epithelial cells, primarily expressed in the epithelia of the gastrointestinal tract, lungs and kidney. ENaC's main function is ...
Identifying the functional role of miRNA-34a in diabetic cardiac stem cells

Gandhi, Sophie (Thesis, Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences with Honours, 2015)

Transplantation of resident cardiac stem cells (CSCs) to the injured myocardium presents the potential to improve functioning of the diabetic heart in patients post-myocardial infarction. However, this therapy is not ...