SEB Marseille 2008
SEB Plenary Lecture - Bidder Lecture
17:30 – 18:30 SEB Plenary Lecture 1 - Bidder Lecture:
PL.1: Will be given by Professor Richard J Balment (University of Manchester)
Importance of Comparative Studies or “Model Hopping”
Richard Balment graduated in Zoology and subsequently completed a PhD in mammalian renal physiology with Ian Chester Jones and Ian Henderson at Sheffield University. Since his appointment at Manchester, Richard has established an international reputation for his research in vertebrate body fluid homeostasis and its endocrine control. His work has embraced fish, reptilian and mammalian models of study including humans. Research focussing on sodium and water management and more recently calcium homeostasis has integrated molecular, biochemical, cellular and whole organism approaches. Against a recognition of the high level of conservation of these vital body processes through the vertebrate series, key research questions have been moved back and forth between species. This has brought experience and knowledge from one group to bear on the development of understanding in others and in so doing enhancing our general appreciation of these core homeostatic mechanisms. This Comparative or “Model Hopping” approach has paid rich dividends for understanding key biological questions in fish, discovery of novel aspects of mammalian osmoregulatory physiology and provided insights into aspects of major human diseases. This comparative approach to the study of major body systems has been at the core of Richard’s research and is the theme developed in the Bidder Lecture.
After leaving Sheffield major influences on research directions emanated from periods in the laboratories of Brahim Lahlou in Nice and Yoshio Takei in Tokyo. Highlights in research achievement include the discovery of the physiological contributions of vasopressin and oxytocin to salt as well as water regulation in mammals. More recently, in collaboration with Cathy McCrohan, they have begun to reveal the mechanisms controlling neuroendocrine secretion of urotensin peptides from the fish caudal neurosecretory system and the regulation of target tissue expression of their receptors. In turn, in collaboration with Nick Ashton, they are making major contributions to the emerging recognition that urotensin II (UII), long held to be a unique fish hormone, also has important contributions in mammalian physiology. We have demonstrated the tonal influence of endogenous UII in the normal regulation of renal salt and water excretion and have highlighted that this is perturbed in models of hypertension and in a number of related human diseases. Current work has drawn attention to the role of Parathyroid Hormone related Protein (PTHrP), first discovered in patients with hypercalcaemia of malignancy, in the normal regulation of blood calcium in fish. Their findings imply that PTHrP likely represents an ancestral vertebrate calcium regulatory system, replaced by Parathyroid Hormone which is only evident in tetrapods.
