Robert Menzies
Research Fellow

Address
- Street
-
The Queen's Medical Research Institute, 47 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh BioQuarter
- City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH16 4TJ
Research summary
Hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular mortality globally, yet strategies to lower blood pressure alone have not sufficiently obviated cardiovascular risk. This is partly due to contributions from the growing epidemics of diabetes, obesity, and aging where damage and repair mechanisms become dampened over time. My research is focused on the identification of macrovascular and microvascular damage and repair mechanisms that arise during hypertension and diabetes to perpetuate disease. This basic research utilises multi-disciplinary approaches to develop vital capabilities and technologies including; cell models, ex vivo preparations, gene-targeted models, signal analysis technques, machine-learning analysis pipelines, and in vivo physiological assays. A key result from this research has been the identification of a major therapeutic candidate, vascular purinergic P2X7 receptors (P2X7R). Antagonism of P2X7R lowers blood pressure and improves target organ perfusion in a hypertensive model. This work has subsequently blossomed into an exciting cross-functional research effort with a team of globally recognised scientists and clinicians pursuing an overarching strategy to bring new and improved treatments to patients.
Research activities
- Europhysiology 2018
- Cardiovascular & renal disease insights from the rat
- Purinergic receptors coordinating cardiovascular and renal disease
- Purinergic receptors coordinating cardiovascular and renal disease
- Vascular and inflammatory actions of P2X receptors in renal injury
- National Undergraduate Endocrinology Conference
- H3 symposium on renal purinergic signaling in obesity and renal physiology
- Transcriptional regulation and therapeutic targeting of P2X7 receptors in diabetic nephropathy
- Royal Society of Biology Voice of the Future
- BHF Edinburgh Supporter Day
- Science and the Parliament
- Measuring renal perfusion with functional MRI and k-means clustering
- Therapeutic opportunities within purinergic pathways for kidney disease
- Viva Prep Day - Invited Panel Member
- American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology (Journal)
- Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology (Journal)
- Modelling cardiovascular pathophysiology with gene-targeted rats
- Purinergic signalling influences blood flow and oxygenation
- PLoS ONE (Journal)
- The Journal of Physiology (Journal)
-
Sex Difference in Renal Artery Contractility in a Novel CRISPR/Cas9-Generated P2X7 Knockout Rat
(1 page)
In:
The FASEB Journal, vol. 36
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.2022.36.S1.R5740
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Meeting abstract (Published) -
Endothelin-1 mediates the systemic and renal hemodynamic effects of GPR81 activation
In:
Hypertension
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.119.14308
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Camk2n1 is a negative regulator of blood pressure, left ventricular mass, insulin sensitivity and promotes adiposity
(10 pages)
In:
Hypertension, vol. 74, pp. 687-696
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.118.12409
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The renal and blood pressure response to low sodium diet in P2X4 receptor knockout mice
In:
Physiological reports, vol. 6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.13899
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Perivascular P2X7-expressing cells in hypertensive renal vascular injury
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Poster (Published) -
Transcription controls growth, cell kinetics and cholesterol supply to sustain ACTH responses
In:
Endocrine connections
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/EC-17-0092
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Hyperglycemia-induced Renal P2X7 Receptor Activation Enhances Diabetes-related Injury
In:
EBioMedicine
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2017.04.011
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Transcriptional regulation and therapeutic targeting of P2X7 receptors in diabetic nephropathy
Research output: › Abstract (Published) -
Vasoactive effects of P2X7 receptors in the aorta of control and hypertensive mice
Research output: › Abstract (Published) -
Novel Cardiorenal Effects of the Lactate Receptor GPR81 Activation
Research output: › Abstract (Published) -
Renal disease pathophysiology and treatment: contributions from the rat
(15 pages)
In:
Disease Models and Mechanisms, vol. 9, pp. 1419-1433
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.027276
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Literature review (E-pub ahead of print) -
Purinergic Signaling in Kidney Disease
In:
Kidney International
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2016.08.029
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Literature review (E-pub ahead of print) -
Conditional Deletion of Hsd11b2 in the Brain Causes Salt Appetite and Hypertension
(11 pages)
In:
Circulation, vol. 133, pp. 1360-1370
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.019341
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Inhibition of the purinergic P2X7 receptor improves renal perfusion in angiotensin-II-infused rats
In:
Kidney International, vol. 88, pp. 1079-1087
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ki.2015.182
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Renal P2 receptors and hypertension
(10 pages)
In:
Acta Physiologica, vol. 213, pp. 232-41
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/apha.12412
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Literature review (Published) -
Effect of P2X4 and P2X7 receptor antagonism on the pressure diuresis relationship in rats
(8 pages)
In:
Frontiers in physiology, vol. 4, pp. 305
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2013.00305
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
An anatomically-unbiased approach for analysis of renal BOLD magnetic resonance images
In:
American Journal of Physiology - Renal Physiology, vol. 305, pp. F845-F852
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00113.2013
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Anatomically unbiased analysis of renal BOLD magnetic resonance images reveals disruption of corticomedullary gradient during chronic angiotensin II infusion
(1 page)
In:
The FASEB Journal, vol. 27, pp. 910
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Meeting abstract (Published) -
Pressure-natriuretic and hemodynamic adjustments to chronic ACE inhibition in inbred F344 and Lewis rat strains
(1 page)
In:
The FASEB Journal, vol. 26
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Meeting abstract (Published) -
Activation of Thiazide-Sensitive Co-Transport by Angiotensin II in the cyp1a1-Ren2 Hypertensive Rat
In:
PLoS ONE, vol. 7, pp. e36311
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0036311
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)