Research Disciplines

Cardiovascular Biology, Neuroscience

Research Interests

Neurobiology of the autonomic nervous system and the homeostatic control of breathing

Research Description

The lab studies the neural systems that control the cardiovascular and respiratory system. Cardio-respiratory function is precisely tuned to ensure the delivery of oxygen and removal of carbon dioxide across a range of physiological states. In response to sensory feedback from the body, the brain modulates lung ventilation through breathing and tissue blood flow through autonomic modulation of the circulatory system to promote cardiorespiratory homeostasis. Breakdown of this system is the cause and symptom of cardiovascular and neurological disease, such as neurogenic hypertension and Parkinson’s disease. Our goal is to identify the neural networks required for the reflex-control of cardiovascular and respiratory function, and determine the role of these systems in the changes in breathing and autonomic function observed in natural contexts (arousal state changes, stress, exercise) and animal models of cardiovascular disease (neurogenic hypertension, acute intermittent hypoxia, diet induced obesity).

Selected Publications

Kim SJ, Fong AY, Pilowsky PM, Abbott SBG, Sympathoexcitation following intermittent hypoxia in rat is mediated by circulating angiotensin II acting at the carotid body and subfornical organ., 2018; The Journal of physiology. 596(15) 3217-3232. PMID: 29645283 | PMCID: PMC6068222

Souza GMP, Kanbar R, Stornetta DS, Abbott SBG, Stornetta RL, Guyenet PG, Breathing regulation and blood gas homeostasis after near complete lesions of the retrotrapezoid nucleus in adult rats., 2018; The Journal of physiology. 596(13) 2521-2545. PMID: 29667182 | PMCID: PMC6023841

Machado NLS, Abbott SBG, Resch JM, Zhu L, Arrigoni E, Lowell BB, Fuller PM, Fontes MAP, Saper CB, A Glutamatergic Hypothalamomedullary Circuit Mediates Thermogenesis, but Not Heat Conservation, during Stress-Induced Hyperthermia., 2018; Current biology : CB. 28(14) 2291-2301.e5. PMID: 30017482 | PMCID: PMC6085892

Abbott SBG, Saper CB, Role of the median preoptic nucleus in the autonomic response to heat-exposure., 2018; Temperature (Austin, Tex.). 5(1) 4-6. PMID: 29687039 | PMCID: PMC5902207

Guyenet PG, Stornetta RL, Holloway BB, Souza GMP, Abbott SBG, Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla and Hypertension., 2018; Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979). 72(3) 559-566. PMID: 30354763 | PMCID: PMC6324579

Abbott SBG, Saper CB, Median preoptic glutamatergic neurons promote thermoregulatory heat loss and water consumption in mice., 2017; The Journal of physiology. 595(20) 6569-6583. PMID: 28786483 | PMCID: PMC5638873

Pedersen NP, Ferrari L, Venner A, Wang JL, Abbott SBG, Vujovic N, Arrigoni E, Saper CB, Fuller PM, Supramammillary glutamate neurons are a key node of the arousal system., 2017; Nature communications. 8(1) 1405. PMID: 29123082 | PMCID: PMC5680228

Guyenet PG, Bayliss DA, Stornetta RL, Kanbar R, Shi Y, Holloway BB, Souza GMP, Basting TM, Abbott SBG, Wenker IC, Interdependent feedback regulation of breathing by the carotid bodies and the retrotrapezoid nucleus., 2017; The Journal of physiology. 596(15) 3029-3042. PMID: 29168167 | PMCID: PMC6068251

Abbott SB, Machado NL, Geerling JC, Saper CB, Reciprocal Control of Drinking Behavior by Median Preoptic Neurons in Mice., 2016; The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 36(31) 8228-37. PMID: 27488641 | PMCID: PMC4971367

Kumar NN, Velic A, Soliz J, Shi Y, Li K, Wang S, Weaver JL, Sen J, Abbott SB, Lazarenko RM, Ludwig MG, Perez-Reyes E, Mohebbi N, Bettoni C, Gassmann M, Suply T, Seuwen K, Guyenet PG, Wagner CA, Bayliss DA, PHYSIOLOGY. Regulation of breathing by CO₂ requires the proton-activated receptor GPR4 in retrotrapezoid nucleus neurons., 2015; Science (New York, N.Y.). 348(6240) 1255-60. PMID: 26068853 | PMCID: PMC5171229

Geerling JC, Kim M, Mahoney CE, Abbott SB, Agostinelli LJ, Garfield AS, Krashes MJ, Lowell BB, Scammell TE, Genetic identity of thermosensory relay neurons in the lateral parabrachial nucleus., 2015; American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology. 310(1) R41-54. PMID: 26491097 | PMCID: PMC4747895

Guyenet PG, Abbott SB, Chemoreception and asphyxia-induced arousal., 2013; Respiratory physiology & neurobiology. 188(3) 333-43. PMID: 23608705 | PMCID: PMC3749262

Abbott SB, DePuy SD, Nguyen T, Coates MB, Stornetta RL, Guyenet PG, Selective optogenetic activation of rostral ventrolateral medullary catecholaminergic neurons produces cardiorespiratory stimulation in conscious mice., 2013; The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 33(7) 3164-77. PMID: 23407970 | PMCID: PMC3596815

Abbott SB, Coates MB, Stornetta RL, Guyenet PG, Optogenetic stimulation of c1 and retrotrapezoid nucleus neurons causes sleep state-dependent cardiorespiratory stimulation and arousal in rats., 2013; Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979). 61(4) 835-41. PMID: 23438930 | PMCID: PMC3666866

Guyenet PG, Stornetta RL, Abbott SB, Depuy SD, Kanbar R, The retrotrapezoid nucleus and breathing., 2012; Advances in experimental medicine and biology. 758() 115-22. PMID: 23080151 | PMCID: PMC5111164

Derecki NC, Cronk JC, Lu Z, Xu E, Abbott SB, Guyenet PG, Kipnis J, Wild-type microglia arrest pathology in a mouse model of Rett syndrome., 2012; Nature. 484(7392) 105-9. PMID: 22425995 | PMCID: PMC3321067

Abbott SB, Kanbar R, Bochorishvili G, Coates MB, Stornetta RL, Guyenet PG, C1 neurons excite locus coeruleus and A5 noradrenergic neurons along with sympathetic outflow in rats., 2012; The Journal of physiology. 590(0) 2897-915. PMID: 22526887 | PMCID: PMC3448155

Abbott SB, Stornetta RL, Coates MB, Guyenet PG, Phox2b-expressing neurons of the parafacial region regulate breathing rate, inspiration, and expiration in conscious rats., 2011; The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 31(45) 16410-22. PMID: 22072691 | PMCID: PMC3236529

Abbott SB, Stornetta RL, Fortuna MG, Depuy SD, West GH, Harris TE, Guyenet PG, Photostimulation of retrotrapezoid nucleus phox2b-expressing neurons in vivo produces long-lasting activation of breathing in rats., 2009; The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 29(18) 5806-19. PMID: 19420248 | PMCID: PMC2696034