Team

Supervisor

Matthew Pamenter, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Biology

mpamenter@uottawa.ca

I received my Ph.D. from the University of Toronto (2003-2008), where I studied neural mechanisms of anoxia-tolerance in turtle brain in the Buck lab. I then travelled to California to undertake a postdoctoral fellowship in the Haddad lab at UCSD (2008-2012), where I studied mechanisms of ischemic cell death in mammalian stroke models. In 2012, I began a second postdoctoral fellowship, split between the Powell lab at UCSD and the Milsom lab at UBC (2012-2015), studying neural plasticity in the hypoxic ventilatory response of rodents, including the naked mole-rat.

I am broadly interested in how hypoxia-tolerant animals have evolved to survive in low-oxygen environments. My primary focus is discovering cellular and physiological mechanisms of hypoxia-tolerance, with a specific interest in how brain cells survive with little to no oxygen and how neural networks control physiological responses to hypoxia.

Lab Members

 
 

Mo Ojaghi

Ph.D. Student (2019- )

 

Liam Eaton

Ph.D. Student (2018- )


Publications: 

Eaton L, Welch I, Halal AK, Bengtsson J and Pamenter ME (2023). Apocynin reduces dihydroethidium fluorescence in naked mole-rat cortex independently of NADPH oxidase. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A.

Eaton L, Bengtsson J, Welch I, Halal AK and Pamenter ME (2024). Sources of reactive oxygen species in normoxic and hypoxic naked mole-rat brain. Medical Research Archives.

Eaton L, Wang T, Roy M, and Pamenter ME (2023). Naked mole-rat cortex maintains reactive oxygen species homeostasis during in vitro hypoxia or ischemia and reperfusion. Current Neuropharmacology.

Eaton L and Pamenter ME (2022). Is NADPH critical to maintain redox homeostasis in hypoxia-tolerant naked mole-rat brain? Reactive Oxygen Species.

Hadj-Moussa H, Eaton L, Cheng H, Pamenter ME and Storey KB (2022). Naked mole-rats resist the accumulation of hypoxia-induced oxidative damage. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A.

Eaton L and Pamenter ME (2022). What to do with low O2: redox adaptations in vertebrates native to hypoxic environments. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A.

D’Alessio S, Cheng H, Eaton L, Kraev I, Pamenter ME and Lange S (2022). Acute hypoxia alters extracellular vesicle signatures and the brain citrusllinome of naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber). International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Ingelson-Filpula WA, Cheng H, Eaton L, Pamenter ME and Storey KB (2022). Small RNA sequencing in hypoxic naked mole-rat hearts suggests microRNA regulation of RNA- and translation-related processes. FEBS Letters.

Hadj-Moussa H, Chiasson S, Cheng H, Eaton L, Storey KB and Pamenter ME (2021). MicroRNA-mediated inhibition of AMPK coordinates tissue-specific downregulation of skeletal muscle metabolism in hypoxic naked mole-rats. Journal of Experimental Biology.

Wang TH, Eaton L, and Pamenter ME (2020). Nitric oxide homeostasis is maintained during acute in vitro hypoxia and following reoxygenation in naked mole-rat but not mouse cortical neurons. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A.

Karen Kadamani

Honours B.Sc. Student (2019-2020); Ph.D. Student (2020- )


Publication:

Kadamani KL, Logan SM and Pamenter ME (2024). Does hypoxia constrain innate pathogen defence? Acta Physiologica.

 

 

Reyhaneh Rahnamaie-Tajadod

Ph.D. Student (2024- )

Claire Della Torre

B.Sc. Student Volunteer (2023- )

Gloria Lamontagne

Honours B.Sc. Student (2023- )

George Otell

Honours B.Sc. Student (2023- )

Amar Bhandari

B.Sc. Student Volunteer (2023- )

Lab Alumni

 

Maiah Devereaux

Honours B.Sc. Student (2018-2019); M.Sc. Student (2019-2023)

B.Sc. Thesis title: Metabolic, ventilatory, and thermoregulatory responses of giant Zambian mole-rats to graded hypoxia and hypercapnia

M.Sc. Thesis title: Central nervous system mechanisms mediating the hypoxic ventilatory and metabolic responses of adult Damaraland mole-rats (Fukomys damarensis)


Publications:

Devereaux MEM and Pamenter ME (2023). Adenosine and gamma-aminobutyric acid partially regulate metabolic and ventilatory responses of Damaraland mole-rats to acute hypoxia. Journal of Experimental Biology.

Devereaux MEM, Chaisson S, Brennan KF and Pamenter ME (2023). The glutamatergic drive to breath is reduced in severe but not moderate hypoxia in Damaraland mole-rats. Journal of Experimental Biology.

Devereaux MEM, Silva Rubio C, Van Breukelen F and Pamenter ME (2023). Physiological responses to hypoxia are constrained by environmental temperature in heterothermic tenrecs. Journal of Experimental Biology.

Farhat E, Devereaux MEM, Cheng H, Weber J-M and Pamenter ME (2021). Na+/K+-ATPase activity is regionally regulated by acute hypoxia in naked mole-rat brain. Neuroscience Letters.

Devereaux MEM, Campbell KL, Munro D, Blier PU and Pamenter ME (2021). Burrowing star-nosed moles (Condylura cristata) are not hypoxia-tolerant. Journal of Experimental Biology.

Clayson M, Devereaux MEM, and Pamenter ME (2020). Neurokinin-1 receptor activation is sufficient to restore the hypercapnic ventilatory response in the Substance P-deficient naked mole-rat. American Journal of Physiology.

Devereaux MEM and Pamenter ME (2020). Fossorial Giant Zambian mole-rats have blunted ventilatory responses to environmental hypoxia and hypercapnia. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A. 

Farhat E, Devereaux MEM, ME, and Weber JM (2020). Naked mole-rats suppress energy metabolism and modulate membrane cholesterol in chronic hypoxia. American Journal of Physiology. 

Bogdan Tirca

Honours B.Sc. Student (2022-2023)

Michael Qi

B.Sc. Student Volunteer (2022-2023) 

Hang Cheng

Ph.D. Student (2018-2023)

Doctoral Thesis title: Mitochondria: hubs of hypoxia-tolerance in naked mole-rats


Publications:

Cheng H, Perkins GA, Ju S, Kim K, Ellisman MH and Pamenter ME (2023). Enhanced mitochondrial buffering prevents Ca2+ overload in naked mole-rat brain. Journal of Physiology.

Hart DW, Bennett NC, Best C, van Jaarsveld B, Cheng H, Ivy CM, Kirby AM, Munro D, Sprenger RJ, Storey KB, Milsom WK and Pamenter ME (2023). The relationship between hypoxia exposure and circulating cortisol levels in social and solitary African mole-rats. General and Comparative Endocrinology.

Marks de Chabris NC, Sabir S, Perkins G, Cheng H, Ellisman MH and Pamenter ME (2023). Acute hypoxia does not alter mitochondrial abundance in naked mole-rats. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A.

Cheng H, Qin Y, Dhillon R, Dowell J, Denu JM and Pamenter ME (2022). Metabolomic analysis of carbohydrate and amino acid changes induced by hypoxia in naked mole-rat brain and liver. Metabolites.

Ingelson-Filpula WA, Cheng H, Eaton L, Pamenter ME and Storey KB (2022). Small RNA sequencing in hypoxic naked mole-rat hearts suggests microRNA regulation of RNA- and translation-related processes. FEBS Letters.

Hadj-Moussa H, Eaton L, Cheng H, Pamenter ME and Storey KB (2022). Naked mole-rats resist the accumulation of hypoxia-induced oxidative damage. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A.

D’Alessio S, Cheng H, Eaton L, Kraev I, Pamenter ME and Lange S (2022). Acute hypoxia alters extracellular vesicle signatures and the brain citrusllinome of naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber). International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Thoral E, Farhat E, Roussel D, Cheng H, Guillard L, Pamenter ME, Weber J-M and Teulier L (2022). Different patterns of chronic hypoxia lead to hierarchical adaptative mechanisms in goldfish metabolism. Journal of Experimental Biology.

Cheng H and Pamenter (2022). Supermole-rat to the rescue: does the naked mole-rat offer a panacea for all that ails us? Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A.

Cheng H, Sebaa R, Malholtra N, Lacoste B, El Hankouri Z, Kirby A, Bennett NC, van Jaarseld B, Hart DW, Tattersall GJ, Harper ME and Pamenter ME (2021). Naked mole-rat brown fat thermogenesis is diminished during hypoxia through a rapid decrease in UCP1. Nature Communications.

Cheng H and Pamenter ME (2021). Naked mole-rat brain mitochondria tolerate in vitro ischemia. Journal of Physiology.

Cheng H, Munro D, Huynh K and Pamenter ME (2021). Naked mole-rat skeletal muscle mitochondria exhibit minimal functional plasticity in acute or chronic hypoxia. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology B.

Hadj-Moussa H, Chiasson S, Cheng H, Eaton L, Storey KB and Pamenter ME (2021). MicroRNA-mediated inhibition of AMPK coordinates tissue-specific downregulation of skeletal muscle metabolism in hypoxic naked mole-rats. Journal of Experimental Biology.

Farhat E, Devereaux MEM, Cheng H, Weber J-M and Pamenter ME (2021). Na+/K+-ATPase activity is regionally regulated by acute hypoxia in naked mole-rat brain. Neuroscience Letters.

Farhat E, Cheng H, Romestaing C, Pamenter M, and Weber JM (2021). Goldfish response to chronic hypoxia: Mitochondrial respiration, fuel preference and energy metabolism. Metabolites. 11(3):187.

Cheng H, Munro D and Pamenter ME (2021). Dynamic calculation of ATP/O ratios measured using Magnesium Green (MgGr)™. MethodsX.

 
 

Sidney Abar

Honours B.Sc. Student (2021-2022)

Isabella Welch

Honours B.Sc. Student (2021-2022)

B.Sc. Thesis title: Identifying the roles of NADPH complex I of the mitochondrial electron transport chain in the production of reactive oxygen species in African naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) brain.


Publications:

Eaton L, Welch I, Halal AK, Bengtsson J and Pamenter ME (2023). Apocynin reduces dihydroethidium fluorescence in naked mole-rat cortex independently of NADPH oxidase. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A.

Eaton L, Bengtsson J, Welch I, Halal AK and Pamenter ME (2024). Sources of reactive oxygen species in normoxic and hypoxic naked mole-rat brain. Medical Research Archives.

 

Jaina Patel

B.Sc. Student (2021-2022) 

Bizav Jaffer

Honours B.Sc. Student (2021-2022)

 

Katia Hughes

NSERC USRA awardee (2021)

 

Kate Brennan

Honours B.Sc. Student (2020-2021)

B.Sc. Thesis title: Effects of glutamate receptor antagonists on the hypoxic ventilatory response of Damaraland mole-rats.


Publication:

Devereaux MEM, Chaisson S, Brennan KF and Pamenter ME (2023). The glutamatergic drive to breath is reduced in severe but not moderate hypoxia in Damaraland mole-rats. Journal of Experimental Biology.

 

Maria Roy

Honours B.Sc. Student (2019-2020) 

B.Sc. Thesis title: Hypoxia-mediated changes in n-methyl-d-aspartate-evoked calcium flux in naked mole-rat cortex.


Publication:

Eaton L, Wang T, Roy M, and Pamenter ME (2023). Naked mole-rat cortex maintains reactive oxygen species homeostasis during in vitro hypoxia or ischemia and reperfusion. Current Neuropharmacology.

 
Dan in nature
 
 

Samantha Torne

Honours B.Sc. Student (2018-2019) 

 

Salome Cadrin-Aubin

Honours B.Sc. Student (2018-2019)

B.Sc. Thesis title: Vascular adaptations in muscle to exercise / work in hypoxia in 6 species of African mole rats.

Lisa Borecky

Lisa Borecky

M.Sc. Student (2015-2018)

M.Sc. Thesis title: Hypoxia inducible factor and the control of hypoxic ventilatory and metabolic responses in Mus Musculus and heterocephalus glaber.


Publications:

Dzal, Seow, Borecky, Chung, Gill, Milsom and Pamenter (2019). Glutamatergic receptors modulate normoxic but not hypoxic ventilation and metabolism in naked mole rats. Frontiers in Physiology

Borecky LG and Pamenter ME (2017). Oxygen sensing and transcriptional regulation of adaptive hypoxic responses. In: Chemosensory sensors and systems: evolutionary significance biological effects, and new insights. New York, USA: Nova Science (M. Brandt, ed.).

photo pour labo
 

Cécile Baldy, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow (2017-2018)


Publications: 

Munro D, Baldy C, Pamenter ME, and Treberg JR (2019). The exceptional longevity of the naked mole-rat may be explained by exceptional mitochondrial antioxidant defenses. Aging Cell

Pamenter ME and Baldy C. (2017). Chronic intermittent hypoxia contributes to sleep-disordered breathing in infants and adults. Berlin, GER: Avid Science. (S. Ravini, ed.).

 

Amanda Zhu-Pawlowsky

B.Sc. Student (Summer 2018)

Project title: Exploring the role of a moisture-mediated body temperature cooling strategy in hypoxic naked mole rats


Publication: 

Vandewint A, Zhu-Palowsky A, Kirby A, Tattersall GJ and Pamenter ME. (2019). Evaporative cooling and vasodilation mediate thermoregulation in naked mole rats during normoxia but not hypoxia. Journal of Thermal Biology.

Sarah Zhang

NSERC USRA awardee; Honours B.Sc. Student (2017-2018)

B.Sc. Thesis title: Hypercapnic ventilatory and metabolic responses in the fossorial Damaraland mole rat: a whole-body and mechanistic perspective


Publications: 

Zhang and Pamenter. (2019). Fossorial Damaraland mole rats do not exhibit a blunted hypercapnic ventilatory response. Biology Letters

Zhang and Pamenter. (2019). Ventilatory, metabolic, and thermoregulatory responses of Damaraland mole rats to acute and chronic hypoxia. Journal of Comparative Physiology B

Travis Branigan

Honours B.Sc. Student (2017-2018)

B.Sc. Thesis title: Behavioural Responses to Environmental Hypercapnia in Damaraland Mole Rats (Fukomys damarensis)


Publication:

Branigan, Elkhalifa, and Pamenter. (2018). Behavioral responses to environmental hypercapnia in two eusocial species of African mole rats. Journal of Comparative Physiology A

headshot

Amanda Vandewint

Honours B.Sc. Student (2017-2018)

B.Sc. Thesis title: Exploring the role of a moisture-mediated body temperature cooling strategy in hypoxic naked mole rats


Publication:

Vandewint A, Zhu-Palowsky A, Kirby A, Tattersall GJ and Pamenter ME. (2019). Evaporative cooling and vasodilation mediate thermoregulation in naked mole rats during normoxia but not hypoxia. Journal of Thermal Biology.

Lewis Han

UROP awardee (2017-2018)

Alexia Kirby

B.Sc. Student (2015-2016); M.Sc. Student (2016-2018)

B.Sc. Thesis title: Behavioural, thermal, and metabolic strategies of the naked mole rat, Hetercephalus glaber, in hypoxia.

M.Sc. Thesis title: Metabolic adaptations to acute hypoxia in naked mole rats.


Publications:

Hart DW, Bennett NC, Best C, van Jaarsveld B, Cheng H, Ivy CM, Kirby AM, Munro D, Sprenger RJ, Storey KB, Milsom WK and Pamenter ME (2023). The relationship between hypoxia exposure and circulating cortisol levels in social and solitary African mole-rats. General and Comparative Endocrinology.

Cheng H, Sebaa R, Malholtra N, Lacoste B, El Hankouri Z, Kirby A, Bennett NC, van Jaarseld B, Hart DW, Tattersall GJ, Harper ME and Pamenter ME (2021). Naked mole-rat brown fat thermogenesis is diminished during hypoxia through a rapid decrease in UCP1. Nature Communications.

Ivy CM, Sprenger RJ, Bennett NC, van Jaarsveld B, Hart D, Kirby AM, Yaghoubi D, Storey KB, Milsom WK and Pamenter (2020). The hypoxia-tolerance of eight related African mole-rat species rivals that of naked mole-rats despite divergent ventilatory and metabolic strategies in severe hypoxia. Acta Physiologica.

Vandewint A, Zhu-Palowsky A, Kirby A, Tattersall GJ and Pamenter ME. (2019). Evaporative cooling and vasodilation mediate thermoregulation in naked mole rats during normoxia but not hypoxia. Journal of Thermal Biology.

Houlahan, Kirby, Dzal, Fairman, and Pamenter (2018). Divergent behavioural responses to acute hypoxia between individuals and groups of naked mole rats. Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry

Kirby, Fairman, and Pamenter (2018). Atypical behavioural, metabolic, and thermoregulatory responses to hypoxia in the naked mole rat (Hetercephalus glaber). Journal of Zoology

Ilacqua, Kirby, and Pamenter (2017). Behavioural responses of naked mole rats to acute hypoxia and anoxia. Biology Letters

Max Clayson

Honours B.Sc. Student (2016-2017)

B.Sc. Thesis title: The role of carbonic anhydrase in modulating metabolic and ventilatory responses to hypercapnia in naked mole-rats


Publication: 

Clayson M, Devereaux MEM, and Pamenter ME (2020). Neurokinin-1 receptor activation is sufficient to restore the hypercapnic ventilatory response in the Substance P-deficient naked mole-rat. American Journal of Physiology.

Sulaf Elkhalifa

Honours B.Sc. Student (2016-2017)

B.Sc. Thesis title: Behavioural and thermal responses to hypercapnia in naked mole-rats


Publication:

Branigan, Elkhalifa, and Pamenter. (2018). Behavioral responses to environmental hypercapnia in two eusocial species of African mole rats. Journal of Comparative Physiology A

Aaron Ilacqua

Honours B.Sc. Student (2015-2016)

B.Sc. Thesis title: Behavioural and thermal responses of individual naked mole rats to environmental hypoxia within their thermoneutral zone


Publication:

Ilacqua, Kirby, and Pamenter (2017). Behavioural responses of naked mole rats to acute hypoxia and anoxia. Biology Letters

Sharn Gill

B.Sc. Student Volunteer (2015-2016)

Project title: Exploring the role of glutamatergic receptors in the control of ventilatory responses to acute and chronic hypoxia in naked mole rats


Publication:

Dzal, Seow, Borecky, Chung, Gill, Milsom and Pamenter (2019). Glutamatergic receptors modulate normoxic but not hypoxic ventilation and metabolism in naked mole rats. Frontiers in Physiology.