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Faculty Detail Faculty Entry   
Name J MICHAEL WYSS  
Campus Address THT 946 Zip 0006
Phone 205-934-6086
E-mail jmwyss@uab.edu" id="FacultyDetail1EmailAddress"><a href="mailto:jmwyss@uab.edu">jmwyss@uab.edu</a>
URL http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=8048
 
 

Department Affiliations(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Center  Neurology   Alzheimer's Disease Center Professor
Center  Center for Aging  Center for Aging Professor
Center  Civitan International Research Center  Civitan International Research Center Professor
Center  Medicine  Comprehensive Diabetes Ctr Professor
Center  General Clinical Research Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center Professor
Center  Ctr for Glial Bio in Med  Ctr for Glial Bio in Med Professor
Center  Medicine  Med - Cardiovascular Disease Professor
Center  Neurology   Neuro-Oncology Center Professor
Primary  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology Professor
Secondary  Medicine  Med - Cardiovascular Disease Professor

Biographical Sketch 
Dr. J. Michael Wyss (b. 1948), Professor (Cell Biology, Medicine, Neurobiology and Psychology) and Director (Center for Community OutReach Development), completed his undergraduate studies in neurobiology at Concordia College, Indiana (B.S., 1970), and received a Ph.D. in neurobiology from Washington University (St. Louis) in 1976. During his postdoctoral studies at Washington University School of Medicine he applied cell biological methods to elucidate the role of the limbic cortex in behavior and autonomic control, and has continued to expand this research at Birmingham (1979-present). His work on the central control of the autonomic nervous system has propelled him into the studies of the neurocellular mechanisms controlling arterial pressure. Outside of the laboratory he enjoys swimming, soccer and photography.

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
AAALAC, International  Member of Council   
American Physiological Society  Member of Council   
Society for Neuroscience     
 

Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Neuroplasticity in aging and neuro cardiovascular control
Description
The current studies in our laboratory center in two major research areas. The first focus is on neuronal plasticity and grows out of our studies that demonstrate that a specific group of pyramidal neurons in the rat retrosplenial cortex display a dramatic alteration in their structure as the animal ages. These neurons show considerable plasticity in these rats, in that their apical denrites diminish to about 1/3 of its normal length, while basal dendrites extend to about 4-5 times their adult length. Concurrent with these changes in structure, we have demonstrated that cellular, molecular and behavioral changes occur, including a significant decrease in spatially learning. We are also investigating the role that a newly discovered growth and differentiation factor (neuregulin) and its receptors (erbB 2-4) play in neuronal plasticity and the role of clacium homeostasis int he pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease.

The second focus of our research involves the role of the central nervous system in the pathogenesis of hypertension. In these studies we are testing the mechanisms by which a decrease in norepinephrine release in the anterior hypothalamic nucleus leads to of salt-sensitive hypertension. We have recently demonstrated that in addition to the selective changes in the hypothalamus, high salt diets also alter the ability of arteries to vasodialate, and that this is due at least in part to an alteration in the NO and superoxide signaling cascades. These studies have also demonstrated that plant polyphenols and estrogen protect against hypertension and underlying neurological dysfunction in rats. We are currently defining the mechanism(s) underlying these effects.

Postdoc Positions Available
Date Posted Position Title
No records
 

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Gerecke, K.M., J.M. Wyss and S.L. Carroll. Neuregulin-1&#946; induces neurite extension and arborization in cultured hippocampal neurons. Molecular Brain Research, 27:379-394, 2004.   
Peng, N., J.T. Clark, J. Prasain, H. Kim, N Brissie and J.M. Wyss. Antihypertensive and cognitive effects of grape polyphenols in estrogen-depleted, female, spontaneously hypertensive rats. Amer J Physiol, 289:771-775, 2005.   
Veerasingham, S.J., K. Berecek, J.M. Wyss and M.K. Raizada. PI3-Kinase p85&#945; expression in presympathetic brain areas is associated with hypertension. Circulation Research, 96:277-279, 2005.    
Wyss, J.M. Central nervous system in arterial pressure regulation. In J.L. Izzo, and H.R. Black, Hypertension Primer, 3rd edition, Lippincott, New York, 99-102, 2007.   
Radbill, A.E., A.T. Reddy, J.M. Markert, J.M. Wyss, M.M. Pike, N.S. Akella, N. Bharara and G.Y., Gillespie. Effects of G207, a conditionally replication-competent oncolytic herpes simplex virus, on the developing mammalian brain. J Neurovirol. 13:118-129, 2007.   
Prasain, J.K., N. Peng, E. Acosta, R. Moore, A. Arabshahi, E. Meezan, S. Barnes and J.M. Wyss. Pharmacokinetic study of puerarin in rat serum by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Biomed Chromatography, Biomed Chromatogr. 21:410-414, 2007.   
Cho, T.M., N. Peng,, J.T. Clark, L. Novak., S. Roysommuti, J. Prasain and J.M. Wyss. Dietary genistein blunts NaCl-sensitive hypertension in young male stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats. Endocrinology, [Epub ahead of print], 2007.  17673523  
 

Keywords
Alzheimers, hypertension, neuronal plasticity, behavior, blood pressure, botanicals

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