News — Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DPAG)

Being "in the zone": how waking activity controls sleep need

7 April 2021

A new study from the Vyazovskiy group suggests that how and where we spend our time while awake impacts how much we need to sleep - it does not only depend on how long we are awake.

A healthy aorta when compared with an aortic aneursm is significantly narrower and less swollen in appearance.

New target identified to develop treatment for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

30 March 2021

A new study from the Smart group has shed light on a key regulatory step in the initiation and progression of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm by revealing the protective role of a previously little known small protein.

Cartoon of pair of lungs displaying how Almitrine Bismesylate operates in Covid-19. Arrows underneath show blood flow is blocked from entering diseased right hand lung.

Drug trial that could improve respiratory recovery from COVID-19 now underway

10 February 2021

A clinical trial has commenced this week to test whether a drug called almitrine can help people who are seriously ill with COVID-19 to recover from the disease.

The brains of a male and female fly merged together shows an intertwined network of neurons in roughly the same position, demonstrating that neural activity in each brain is similar yet subtly different.

Same genome, different worlds: How a similar brain causes sexually dimorphic behaviours

27 January 2021

A new paper from the Goodwin group based in DPAG's Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour has shown how males and females are programmed differently in terms of sex.

Seminal fluid in the male accessory gland is full of elliptical lipid-containing microcarriers

New form of gift wrap drives male reproductive success

26 January 2021

The transfer of complex mixtures of signals and nutrients between individuals is a key step in several biologically important events in our lives, such as breastfeeding and sexual intercourse. However, we know relatively little about the ways in which the molecular gifts involved are packaged to ensure their successful delivery to the recipient.

A medical professional wearing a mask and safety gloves prepares COVID-19 Vaccine

Just over half of British Indians would take COVID vaccine

21 January 2021

University of Oxford researchers from the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DPAG) and the Department of Psychiatry, in collaboration with The 1928 Institute, have published a major new study on the impact of COVID-19 on the UK’s largest BME population.

Frontal view of a developing mouse heart used in the study

Earliest origins of the forming heart identified

8 January 2021

The earliest known progenitor of the outermost layer of the heart has been characterised for the first time and linked to the development of other critical cell types in the developing heart in a new paper from the Srinivas group led by BHF Immediate Fellow Dr Richard Tyser.

Scarred lungs compared with healthy lungs show much larger areas of darkness, representing parts of the lungs that are having difficulty transporting oxygen into the blood stream.

Covid-19 lung damage identified in study

2 December 2020

In a new study into the longer-term damage amongst patients recovering from COVID-19, DPAG Research Fellow Dr James Grist of the Tyler Lab has been running a novel scanning technique that shows a dramatic decrease in the ability of the lungs to diffuse gas in to the blood stream after COVID infection. This work may shed light on the problem of breathlessness after COVID infection and help guide us in understanding therapeutic selection and efficacy.

Fluorescent close up of the fly brain showing that a key magnesium transporter dominates the neurons involved in memory.

A clue to how a memory-enhancing pill might work

27 November 2020

Hundreds of dietary supplements have been reported to improve cognitive and emotional function in humans, but few have scientific foundation. A new study from the Waddell group provides fresh insight into how dietary Magnesium supplementation can influence memory performance.

New MRI technique could detect early signs of heart failure in cancer patients following chemotherapy

19 November 2020

New research led by Oxford BHF CRE Intermediate Transition Fellow Dr Kerstin Timm shows that a recently developed imaging technique pioneered by the Tyler Group can detect early metabolic changes in the heart caused by a commonly used chemotherapy drug, which is known to increase risk of heart failure in cancer survivors.

Researchers reveal surprising simplicity behind our ability to hear

23 October 2020

A computational modelling study from the King Group demonstrates that the way sounds are transformed from the ear to the brain’s auditory cortex may be simpler than expected. These findings not only highlight the value of computational modelling for determining the principles underlying neural processing, but could also be useful for improving treatments for patients with hearing loss.

Damaged mitochondria are shown to scale in small areas within the centre and edges of a large mass of healthy mitochondria.

New insights into mitochondria quality control could hold the key to treating metabolic disorders

21 October 2020

The Zaccolo Group has identified a new mechanism that regulates mitochondria quality control, a process that is crucial to maintaining healthy cells and preventing disease.

15 fruit fly brains in a colourful grid design

‘Junk’ DNA could be rewiring our brains

16 October 2020

A new study by Waddell Group Neuroscientists at the Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour shows that mobile genetic elements that were active in the genomes of our ancestors could be closely linked to important functions in our brain and might help diversify our behaviour, cognition and emotions.

Overlaid silhouettes of adult, adolescent, infant and baby craniums, highlighting neuronal circuits in their brains.

The transient blueprint of the brain

16 October 2020

Transient neurones match the spontaneous and sensory driven activities to shape cortical circuits: a landmark collaborative review published in Science from Professor Zoltán Molnár, Professor Patrick Kanold and Professor Heiko Luhmann.

Striatal immunofluorescence signals for astrocyte marker S100β and neuronal marker NeuN

Sites of early dysfunction in Parkinson's identified

2 October 2020

A new collaborative study from the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre led by Prof Stephanie Cragg and Dr Bradley Roberts has revealed that GABA transporters on astrocytes, the brain's lesser known yet critically important cells, support dopamine release and are sites of early dysfunction in parkinsonism.

Tiny brain “tweezers” could hold the key to treat Parkinson’s

28 September 2020

A collaborative study led by the OPDC's Dr Nora Bengoa-Vergniory has shown that compounds known as molecular tweezers could become a promising disease modifying therapy for Parkinson’s.

Zoltan Molnar delivering a lecture, front of Charite Berlin, Charite Berlin lecture theatre, and main atrium of Charite Berlin.

Einstein Visiting Fellowship awarded to Zoltán Molnár

24 September 2020

Professor Zoltán Molnár has been awarded an Einstein Visiting Fellowship to Charité - University Medicine, Berlin. This award sees him join the dynamic Oxford | Berlin collaboration, a strategic research partnership that supports high quality joint research initiatives across all disciplines of its member institutions, of which Neuroscience is a major focus.

Graphical abstract showing increased energy levels in the heart when mitochondrial deacetylase SIRT3 activator "honokiol" is administered to the diabetic heart, compared to lower levels in the research control group.

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