Department of Cellular & Structural Biology
Cellular and Structural Biology | Faculty

CSB Faculty

 

Photo of Dr. Herbert Damon C. Herbert, Ph.D.
Professor

 

University of California, San Francisco, 1973

 

(210) 567-3845
HERBERT@UTHSCSA.EDU

 

Dr. Herbert is Co-course Director of Dental Microscopic Anatomy; Course Director of Rodent Histology/Anatomy, a component of the Methods in Cell Biology Course for graduate students; lecturer in Medical Microscopic Anatomy; and laboratory instructor in Medical Neuroscience. He also directs career opportunity programs for potential graduate students.

 

My general area of research has been in the area of pituitary histophysiology and reproductive biology. We have investigated the interrelationships between malnutrition and the maturation of the pituitary-gonadal axis in developing male rats. As can be noted below in which an age-matched protein-calorie malnourished rat is illustrated next to a well-fed animal, the effects of a low protein diet on body growth are demonstrable. Placing a rat on a low, 8% protein diet beginning at 20 days of age leads to a delay in the onset of puberty, requiring the animal to take nearly twice the time normally needed to reach sexual maturation. Profiles of the gonadotrophic hormones and of the sex steroids in the malnourished animals remain at prepubertal levels throughout their time on the diet. Morphological analyses of the pituitary gland, prostate and testes by light and electron microscopy support the conclusion that these animals are sexually immature and that the activity of their biosynthetic pathways is severely compromised.

 

Serum LH and FSH levels in male rats fed either a normal (solid circle) ora low protein (open circles) diet between 20 and 50 days of age. Serum LH and FSH levels in male rats fed either a normal (solid circle) ora low protein (open circles) diet between 20 and 50 days of age.

 

Interestingly, after prolonged exposure to a low protein diet, intratesticular levels of testosterone rise which, together with other factors controlling the formation of sperm, stimulates spermatogenesis even though plasma concentrations of LH, FSH and testosterone are well below those of normal animals. On the other hand, once malnourished animals are fed a normal diet, they rapidly become sexually mature. The next question being investigated with my colleagues is the effect of malnutrition on gene expression in the cells of the pituitary gland of male rats.

 

PUBLICATIONS:
Shirasawa, N., Y. Mabuchi, E. Sakuma, T. Yashiro, M. Kikuchi, Y. Hashimoto, Y. Tsuruo, D.C. Herbert and T. Soji (2004) Intercellular communication with the rat anterior pituitary gland. Immunohisto-cytochemistry of S-100 and connexin 43 of folliculo-stellate cells in the rat anterior pituitary gland. Anat. Rec. 278A:462-473.

 

Hara, M., D.C. Herbert, T. Taniguchi, A. Hattori, R. Ohtani-Kaneko, M. Iigo, Y. Kato and K. Hirata (1998) Effects of a low-protein diet on prolactin- and growth hormone-producing cells in the rat pituitary gland. Anat. Rec. 251:37-43.

 

Soji, T., Y. Mabuchi, C. Kurono and D.C. Herbert (1997) Folliculo-stellate cells and intercellular communication within the rat anterior pituitary gland. Micro. Res. Tech. 39:138-149.

 

Herbert, D.C., P.C. Supakar and A.K. Roy (1995) Male Reproduction. In: Reproductive Toxicology, 2nd edition. R. J. Witorsch, ed. Raven Press, New York, pp. 3-21.

 

Herbert, D.C., T. Yashiro, T. Muraki, T. Okano, A. Hattori and T. Suzuki (1993) Quantitative morphological analysis of the pituitary gland in protein-calorie malnourished rats. Anat. Rec. 235:121-125.

 

Herbert, D.C., A. Hattori, T. Yashiro, T. Muraki and T. Suzuki (1993) In vivo and in vitro response of the hypophysis of protein-calorie malnourished rats to luteinizing hormone releasing hormone. Biomed. Res. 4:215-225.