![Dr Antonio Gonzalez Sanchez Dr Antonio Gonzalez Sanchez](/img/200x200/staffpages/uploads/s06jg7/AGonzalez.jpg.JPG)
MSc, PhD
Lecturer
- About
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- Email Address
- antonio.gonzalez@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 438658
- Office Address
- School/Department
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition
Biography
- 2018–present: Lecturer, The Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen
- 2015–2018: Principal Laboratory Research Scientist, The Francis Crick Institute, London
- 2012–2015: Senior Investigator Scientist, National Institute for Medical Research, London
- 2010–2012: Marie-Curie Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin
- 2007–2010: Research Associate, Department of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge
- 2005–2007: Post-doctoral Fellow, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
- 2005: PhD, St John's College, Cambridge; Department of Anatomy, University of Cambridge
- 2001: MSc (Biochemistry), Institute of Biotechnology, National Autonomous University of Mexico
- 1997: Medicine, Universidad LaSalle, Mexico City
- Research
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Research Overview
My overall interest is the study of how the brain predicts and controls changes in metabolism in the body, and in particular how food intake is regulated.
My work revolves around these topics:
- Appetite and body weight control.
- Study of brain networks responsible for regulation of body metabolism, with a focus on hypothalamic networks.
- The role of brain glucose sensors: physiology and pharmacology of brain mechanisms that detect fluctuations in sugar.
Details
The hypothalamus in the brain plays a critical role in assessing the nutritional status of the organism and controlling metabolism accordingly. Food intake, for example, is a complex behaviour that is essentially regulated by the hypothalamus, as are other related functions such as peripheral metabolism, body temperature, etc.
Within the hypothalamus, a group of cells have the ability to detect local fluctuations in sugar. It is believed that this ability allows the brain to sense changes in sugar in the body and react accordingly by, for example, promoting food intake when blood sugar is too low. I study the cellular mechanisms utilised by brain sugar sensors to perform this job. Moreover, I am interested in investigating how these sugar sensors operate within the brain, how they communicate with other brain regions, and what their role is as part of the wider brain circuitry that controls appetite and body weight.
Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in Biomedical Sciences.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.
Biomedical Sciences
Accepting PhDsResearch Specialisms
- Medical Sciences
- Neuroscience
- Nutrition
- Physiology
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Funding and Grants
- BBSRC New Investigator Scheme (Sep 2021 - Aug 2024; £430k)
- Welcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund - ISSF@Aberdeen (Sep 2018; £20k)
- Teaching
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Courses
Lecture: Molecular Pharmacology of Ion Channels
Lectures: Patch Clamp Methods
Lecture: Genetic tools to study neural circuits
Lecture: Neuronal glucose sensing
Lecture: The hypothalamus
Course coordinator
Teaching Responsibilities
I teach various neuroscience-related topics at undergraduate and postgraduate level, see Courses above.
I addition, I have supervisory roles for undergraduates (tutorials, Honours projects) and MSc in Human Nutrition.
- Publications
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Daily rhythms of spike coding in the rat supraoptic nucleus
Journal of Neuroendocrinology, vol. 21, no. 11, pp. 935-45Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2826.2009.01918.x
Deletion of TASK1 and TASK3 channels disrupts intrinsic excitability but does not abolish glucose or pH responses of orexin/hypocretin neurons
European Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 57-64Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.06789.x
Stimulation of orexin/hypocretin neurones by thyrotropin-releasing hormone
The Journal of Physiology, vol. 587, no. 6, pp. 1179-1186Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2008.167940
Dissociation between sensing and metabolism of glucose in sugar sensing neurones
The Journal of Physiology, vol. 587, no. 1, pp. 41-48Contributions to Journals: Review articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2008.163410
Physiological functions of glucose-inhibited neurones
Acta Physiologica, vol. 195, no. 1, pp. 71-8Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1716.2008.01922.x
Metabolism-independent sugar sensing in central orexin neurons
Diabetes, vol. 57, no. 10, pp. 2569-2576Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.2337/db08-0548
BDNF up-regulates pre-pro-TRH mRNA expression in the fetal/neonatal paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Properties of the transduction pathway
Brain Research, vol. 1174, pp. 28-38Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2007.08.026
Melatonin modulates spike coding in the rat suprachiasmatic nucleus
Journal of Neuroendocrinology, vol. 19, no. 9, pp. 671-681Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2826.2007.01574.x
Pinealectomy reduces optic nerve but not intergeniculate leaflet input to the suprachiasmatic nucleus at night
Journal of Neuroendocrinology, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 146-53Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2826.2005.01395.x