The Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics presents:
Diego V. Bohórquez, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Duke University
Presentation:
"Deciphering Visceral Instincts: A Gut-Brain Dialogue "
The Laboratory of Gut-Brain Neurobiology at Duke University works to heal the brain from the gut by deciphering the neural circuits that convert food into feelings. We discovered neuropod cells—specialized sensory epithelial cells that form direct synaptic connections with vagal afferents—enabling rapid communication from gut to brain. Using this neuroepithelial circuit, we demonstrated that neuropod cells transduce specific nutrients through glutamate signaling onto vagal neurons to drive nutrient-selective feeding behaviors. In collaboration with Dr. Polina Anikeeva's lab at MIT, we developed gut optogenetics using flexible fiber-optic technology and identified a discrete population of these cells that confers preference for caloric sugar over artificial sweeteners. More recently, we identified a "neurobiotic sense": colonic neuropod cells detect bacterial flagellin via TLR5 and signal through PYY–Y2R transduction to suppress feeding in real time—revealing that the gut senses its microbiota using the same rapid logic it uses for nutrient sensing. We are now dissecting neural circuits for reward valuation and protein sensing to define how neuroepithelial systems assign hedonic value to food and detect essential macronutrients. Each new sense we uncover reveals an architecture in which the gut feels before the brain knows why. We propose this circuitry represents a promising therapeutic avenue for obesity, addiction, and mood disorders—not by treating the brain in isolation, but by engaging the organ that speaks to it first. This is what it means to heal the brain from the gut.
Host: Dr. Iris Titos Vivancos, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Ashley Johnson
(312) 503-3426
Email