Emergence of air breathing in vertebrates

从水呼吸到空气呼吸的转变可以说是动物生理学中发生的最戏剧性的变化之一。虽然它首先发生在数百万年前的脊椎动物进化过程中，但肺通气的逐步出现仍然在许多脊椎动物物种的发育过程中常规地发生。这种转变需要驱动和调节呼吸的神经回路发生重要变化，但直到今天，使这种迷人的转变成为可能的机制仍然知之甚少。为了解决这个问题，我的研究计划的长期目标是了解与脊椎动物出现空气呼吸相关的呼吸控制系统内的神经生理学变化。在接下来的五年里，我们将使用美国牛蛙（Rana catesbeiana）来研究具有挑战性的环境（例如缺氧）对这些神经回路成熟的影响。我们将集中在皮质酮，类固醇激素，在这个过程中的作用。

The transition from water to air breathing is arguably one of the most dramatic changes to occur in animal physiology. While it first took place during vertebrate evolution millions of years ago, the progressive emergence of lung ventilation still takes place routinely during the development of many vertebrate species. Such transition requires important changes within the neural circuits that drive and regulate breathing, yet to this day, the mechanisms that make this fascinating transition possible remain poorly understood. To attend this issue, the long term objective of my research program is to understand the neurophysiological changes within the respiratory control system associated with the emergence of air breathing in vertebrates. Over the next five year, we will use the American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) to investigate the impact of challenging environments (e.g. poor oxygen) on the maturation of these neural circuits. We will focus on the role of corticosterone, a steroid hormone, in this process.