How the Brain Controls Metabolic Diseases Such as Obesity and Type-2 Diabetes

DATE: APRIL 2019
The University of Melbourne | Physiology
Garron Dodd, Senior Lecturer

We will use these Hamilton products to investigate how the brain controls metabolic diseases such as obesity and type-2 diabetes. If successful, we will use this diverse range of Hamilton Syringes to 1) Stereotaxically administer a highly precise amount of virus into specific regions of the rodent brain using syringes 65457-01 and 65458-01. These products will afford us unparalleled accuracy in how we can genetically edit the brain, an approach that would be far superior to using glass micropipettes. This will set a new standard in how agents (viruses, drugs, etc) are accurately delivered to discrete regions of the brain with high reproducibility. 2) Load protein and RNA gels with much higher accuracy than that of a standard pipette. Routinely, people use standard pipettes to load RNA and protein gels. Here, we have developed a method to extract low amounts of protein and RNA from very small punches in rodents and human brains. To analyze this accurately, we require syringes 80360 and 80465 to load these precious samples with high reproducibility. This will set a new standard by which precious samples with low amounts of starting material are analyzed by gel separation.
 

These products will allow us to deliver a virus capable of deleting the insulin receptor in small regions of the hypothalamus that are known to become defective in obesity and T2D. Current practice using glass micropipettes results in inaccurate virus delivery and high variation between subjects. Using syringes 65457-01 and 65458-01, we will be able to overcome these past limitations and gain valuable insight into how to target the brain to treat metabolic disease. Furthermore, we can then explore how these small regions of the hypothalamus become defective in metabolic disease by microdissecting these brain regions and investigating the transcriptome and proteome. Using syringes 80360 and 80465 we will be able to load homogenates of the brain with high precision and reproducibility, a feat previously unattainable using standard pippettes. As well as improving research outcomes, using these syringes, we will be able to treat multiple cohorts of students (>30 per year NEURO 3009 - Neurophsyiology) how to conduct these cutting-edge neuroscience techniques.

It is our lab's mission to understand how the brain coordinates metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes and how to define novel therapeutics. To do this, we utilize the latest technology and international collaboration alongside a strong teaching ethos to generate compelling research outcomes while building the next generation of scientists. What really sets us apart is that we use Hamilton syringes in nearly every aspect of our workflow, from molecular biology and proteomics to in vivo neuroscience.