University of Pittsburgh
School of Pharmacy
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Robert Gibbs, Ph.D.Professor of Pharmaceutical SciencesDirector, Cell Imaging CoreUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, 1004 Salk Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 e-mail: gibbsr@pitt.edu |
Research
Dr. Gibbs's laboratory is located on the 10th floor of Salk Hall where investigators are studying the ability of gonadal hormone therapy to enhance and maintain the functional status of specific neural systems in the adult and aging brain. Current studies are focusing on the effects of estradiol and testosterone on cholinergic projections to the hippocampus and cortex, the enhancement of which may help to prevent or delay the development of Alzheimer's-related dementia in postmenopausal women.
Training Opportunities
A wide variety of molecular, histochemical, and behavioral techniques are used in the laboratory to study how brain function is affected by gonadal hormones and aging. Some of the techniques currently being utilized include quantitative RT-PCR, quantitative in situ hybridization histochemistry, immunocytochemistry, in vivo microdialysis, enzyme assays, uptake assays, and measures of learning and memory. Students are encouraged to acquaint themselves with all of the techniques being used in the laboratory. Opportunities for additional predoctoral and postdoctoral training in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and in conjunction with the Center for Reproductive Physiology are also available.
Cell Imaging Core
The cell imaging core provides technical support and training in the use of modern quantitative histochemical techniques. Core facilities consist of a dedicated research laboratory, cryostat, microtomes, and a high quality photomicroscope equipped with fluorescence, digital imaging, and computer aided image analysis. Some of the techniques currently supported by the core include digital imaging, quantitative in situ hybridization, immunocytochemistry, autoradiography, TUNEL, as well as a variety of morphometric and stereological analyses. Core facilities are located on the 10th floor of Salk Hall adjacent to Dr. Gibbs's laboratory.
Recent Publications
Zhang, Y., Huang, Y., Zhang,
P., Gao, X., Gibbs, R.B., and Li, S. (2012) Incorporation
of a selective sigma-2 receptor ligand enhances uptake of liposomes by multiple
cancer cells, International
Journal of Nanomedicine, In Press
Cai, L., Gibbs, R.B., Johnson, D.A. (2012) Recognition of novel objects and their location in rats with selective cholinergic lesions of the medial septum. Neuroscience Letters, 506(2): 261-265. PMID: 22119001
Gibbs, R.B., Chipman, A.M., Hammond, R. and Nelson, D. (2011) Galanthamine Plus Estradiol Treatment Enhances Cognitive Performance in Aged Ovariectomized Rats, Horm. & Behav.60:607-616. doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.08.010.PMID: 3210334
Gibbs, R.B., Chipman, A.M., and
Nelson, D. (2011) Donepezil Plus Estradiol Treatment
Enhances Learning and Delay-Dependent Memory Performance by Young
Ovariectomized Rats with Partial Loss of Septal Cholinergic Neurons, Horm. & Behav., 59(4): 503-11. DOI S0018-506X(11)00026-2 [pii] 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.01.011; PMID 3081392
Hammond, R.*, and Gibbs, R.B. (2011) GPR30 is
positioned to mediate estrogen effects on basal forebrain cholinergic neurons
and cognitive performance, Brain Res, 1379:53-60, doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2010.11.098;
PMID 3046317
Pokala, V.N., Witt-Enderby,
P.A., Gibbs, R.B., and Johnson, D.A. (2010). Selective septohippocampal
cholinergic lesioning in rat brain: Effects on muscarinic receptor function and
secretase enzyme activity. Curr.
Topics in Pharmacol. 14: 73-78.
Kline, A.E., McAloon,
R.L., Henderson, K.A., Bansal,
U.K., Ganti,
B.M., Ahmed, R.H., Gibbs,
R.B. and Sozda,
C.N. (2010) Evaluation of a Combined Therapeutic Regimen of
8-OH-DPAT and Environmental Enrichment After Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury,
J. Neurotrauma, 27:11, 2021-2032. DOI:
10.1089/neu.2010.1535; PMID 2978058
Hammond, R.*, Nelson, D., and Gibbs, R.B. (2010)
GPR30 co-localizes with cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain and enhances
potassium-stimulated acetylcholine release in the hippocampus. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 36(2):182-192,
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyceuen.2010.07.007. PMID: 2994977
Gibbs, R.B. (2010) Does Short-Term Estrogen Therapy Produce Lasting Benefits In Brain? Endocrinology, 15(3): 843-845.
Gibbs, R.B. (2010) Estrogen therapy
and cognition: A review of the cholinergic hypothesis, Endocrine Reviews 31(2):
224-253. PMID:
2852210.
Gibbs, R.B. (2009)
Animal Studies that Support Estrogen Effects on Cognitive Performance and the
Cholinergic Basis of the Critical Period Hypothesis, In: Hormones, Cognition
and Dementia: State of the Art and Emergent Therapeutic Strategies, E. Hogervorst, V. Henderson, R.B. Gibbs, and R. Brinton, Eds., Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, UK.
Ramaswamy, Gibbs, R.B., Plant, T.M.
(2009) Studies of the localization and action of kisspeptin
within the pituitary of the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 10: 795-804.
PMCID: 2760459
Hammond, R., Mauk, R., Ninaci, D., Nelson, D.,
and Gibbs, R.B. (2009) Chronic treatment with estrogen receptor agonists
restores acquisition of a spatial memory task in young ovariectomized rats. Horm. & Behav., 56: 309-314.
Gibbs, R.B., Mauk, R., Nelson, D., Johnson, D.A. (2009) Donepezil
treatment restores the ability of estradiol to enhance cognitive performance in
aged rats: Evidence for the cholinergic basis of the critical period
hypothesis. Horm. & Behav., 56: 73-83. NIHMS123055, Publ.ID: YHBEH2819
Complete
Publication List
Other sites of interest:
University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy
PhD Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences