Susanne Holmgren

Professor, zoofysiologi

Huvudstudierektor för forskarutbildningen

Tel: 031-786 36 72 |  susanne.holmgren@bioenv.gu.se

Forskningsintressen

THE INTEGRATED CONTROL OF GUT SMOOTH MUSCLE
– DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION

1. Comparative studies of the presence (immunohistochemistry) and function (motility control, circulation control, ineractions between nerve types, signal transduction) of nitric oxide and neuropeptides, especially bombesin, gastrin/CCK, neurotensin, NPY, substance P, and VIP in the enteric nervous system of fish, salamander, toad and caiman.
2. The development of the function of the enteric nervous system in relation to the onset of feeding in zebrafish and Xenopus larvae.
3. The up- and down-regulation of the enteric nervous system in relation to feeding status in intermittent feeders such as pythons, and hibernating frogs.

Publikationer

Utvalda publikationer

Nilsson S, Holmgren S (1986) Fish Physiology: Recent  advances. Croom Helm, London

Holmgren S (1989) Comparative Physiology of Regulatory Peptides. Chapman and Hall, London, New York.

Nilsson S, Holmgren S (1994) "Comparative Physiology and Evolution of the Autonomic Nervous System" In: Burnstock G (series editor), The Autonomic Nervous System. Harwood Academic Publishers, Chur, Switzerland.

De senaste undersökningarna

Nilsson S, Holmgren S (1998) "The autonomic nervous system and chromaffin tissue in hagfishes" In: The Biology of Hagfishes (eds. JM Jörgensen JP Lomholt, RE Weber, H Malte), Chapman and Hall, London, Weinheim, New York, Tokyo, Melbourne, Madras. pp 480-495

Holmgren S, Nilsson S (1999) "Digestive system" In: Hamlett WC (Ed) Sharks, Skates and Rays. The biology of elasmobranch fishes. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London. 144-173

Olsson C, Holmgren S (2001) "The control of gut motility" Comp. Biochem. Physiol. Part A, 128(3):449-501

Holmgren S, Jensen J (2001) "Evolution of vertebrate neuropeptides" In: special issue on Evolution of the nervous system. Brain Res. Bull. In press.

Tio utvalda originalpublikationer

These publications are selected because they represent significant progress in the research, or adoption and adaptation of new methods of importance. They are not necessarily the most cited, or published in the highest impact journals.

1. Bjenning C, Holmgren S (1988) Neuropeptides in the fish gut; a study of evolutionary trends. Histochemistry 88:155­163. Most cited

2. Thorndyke MC, Holmgren S (1990) Bombesin potentiates the effect of  acetylcholine on isolated strips of fish stomach. Regulatory peptides 30: 125-135. One of the first publications ever to demonstrate an interaction between a classical transmitter and a neuropeptide

3. Kågström J, Axelsson M, Jensen J, Farrell AP, Holmgren S (1996) Vasoactivity and immunoreactivity of fish tachykinins in the vascular system of the spiny dogfish. American Journal of Physiology 270(3 PART 2): R585-R593. One of the first publications demonstrating the effects in vivo of native neuropeptides in a non-mammalian species

4. Karila P, Holmgren S  (1995) Enteric reflexes and nitric oxide in the fish intestine. Journal of Experimental Biology 198(11): 2405-2411. In an in vitro preparation of cod intestine, we demonstrate for the first time in a non-mammalian species, an ascending constrictory (cholinergic) and a descending (NO-releasing) reflex, both presumably persitaltic

5. Shahbazi F, Karila P, Olsson C, Holmgren S, Conlon JM and  Jensen J (1998) Primary structure, distribution and effects on motility of CGRP in the intestine of the cod, Gadus morhua. Am. J. Physiol. 275: R19-R28. Combining identity, distribution and function of a native transmitter

6. Olsson C, Aldman G, Larsson A, Holmgren S (1999) Cholecystokinin affects gastric emptying and stomach motility in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Journal of   Experimental Biology 202:161-170. Adapting scintigraphy, a method normally used to study food transport in the gut of humans, for studies of fish, we demonstrate the inhibitory effect of cholecystokinin on stomach motility and gastric empying in swimming fish

7. Olsson C, Holmgren S (2000) PACAP and nitric oxide inhibit contractions in the proximal intestine of the Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua. Journal of Experimental Biology 203:575-583. The latest publication in a series of studies to elucidate the inhibitory control of the fish gut, indicating the large generality of these mechanisms throughout vertebrates

8. Aronsson U, Holmgren S (2001) Muscarinic M3-like receptors, cyclic AMP and L-type calcium channels are involved in the contractile response to cholinergic agents in gut smooth muscle of the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Fish Physiol Biochem, in press. The first publication where we have studied signal transduction in the fish gut, using a combination of pharmacological methods and enzyme activity measurements.

9. Axelsson M, Olsson S, Gibbins I, Holmgren S, Franklin CE (2001) Nitric oxide, a potent vasodilator of the anastomosis in the estuarine crocodile, Crocodylus porosus. General and comparative endocrinology, in press. We demonstrate for the first time an intriguing mechanism where NO-releasing nerves prevent an adrenergic mechanism to completely occlude a vessel

10. Holmberg A,  Hägg U, Fritsche R, Holmgren S (2001) The occurrence of neurotrophin receptors and transmitters in the developing Xenopus gut. Cell and Tissue Research , in press. The first publication from our studies on the development of the enteric nervous system in fish and frogs, demonstrating the earliest ever found evidence of the presence of neurotransmitters in the developing amphibian gut