Michael J. Beyak
B.Sc. (Queen’s), M.D. (Toronto)
Dept. of Medicine
Cross Appointment: Dept. of Physiology
beyakm@post.queensu.ca
Our lab is interested in the function of the primary afferent nerves innervating the GI tract and liver, with a particular focus on vagal afferents, and their role in detecting food intake. Our studies are focused in two main areas.
1. Basic ion channel mechanisms by which afferent nerves are activated by satiety hormones for example cholecystokinin (CCK) and glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1).
2. Study of the effect of disease states such as obesity and inflammation on the function of these afferent nerves.
The techniques we use include whole cell patch clamp recordings from isolated neurons, recording from afferent nerve fibers innervating the gut and liver and behavioral measures of food intake in live animals. These physiological measures are complimented with anterograde and retrograde tracing techniques and immunohistochemistry.
