Welcome to Huxley's Lab
The research effort in our laboratory is directed towards understanding
the barrier that separates circulating blood and tissue.
We use micropipettes to perfuse
individual in situ capillaries
or venules as they lie in functioning tissue. The in situ,
perfused microvessel techniques used in our laboratory offer the unique
opportunity to define the location of the vessel under study and make physical
measurements of the exchange surface size and shape. We can also control
the physical forces at the transcapillary wall (e.g. osmotic, oncotic,
and hydrostatic pressures) and manipulate the composition the media perfusing
and superfusing the vessel. Additionally, our laboratory uses and continues
to develope new techniques for measuring transcapillary movement of water
and solutes.
Our recent studies involve the quantification of microvascular transport
across the walls of isolated, perfused arterioles and venules
from the heart, brain, mesentery, and skeletal
muscle animials that have under gone endurance exercise training,
have been on high fat diets, or suffer from diabetes.
Their transport properties are compared to those of the same microvessels
isolated from normal age and sex matched animals . With these preparations
we can make detailed quantitative transport measurements in a well-defined
and physiologically active system. We want to develop a greater understanding
of how these microvessels are controlled in health and disease and how
their behavior affects overall organ function.
Medical Student Lectures 2000
