Professor Vance L. Trudeau holds the University of Ottawa Research Chair in Neuroendocrinology and leads a team of dynamic graduate students with wide interests. He is privileged to also receive support from talented collaborators from around the world. His group's research is directed towards understanding how the vertebrate brain regulates anterior pituitary hormones that control sexual development and reproduction using fish and frog models. Applications of this basic research include spawning induction methods for endangered amphibians, among others. One of the most compelling recent discoveries is the fundamental role of a peptide called secretoneurin. Based on work in goldfish, zebrafish and mice, we have made the proposal that it is a new reproductive hormone. The team also studies the effects of sex steroids and pollutants (pharmaceuticals, pesticides, petroleum products) on development and reproduction in fish and frogs. This concept is called endocrine disruption. This has important implications for environmental and human health because many of these hormonal systems are conserved across species. This means that what is discovered in one species, has major implications in other vertebrate, including humans. Trudeau recognizes that he works and lives on the unceded Algonquin territory of the Three Fire Confederacy, Anishinaabewaki.
Selected recent publications
- Zohar Y, Zmora N, Trudeau VL, Muñoz-Cueto JA, Golan M. A half century of fish gonadotropin-releasing hormones: Breaking paradigms. J Neuroendocrinol. 2022 May;34(5):e13069. doi: 10.1111/jne.13069. Epub 2021 Dec 16. PMID: 34913529.
- Trudeau VL. Neuroendocrine Control of Reproduction in Teleost Fish: Concepts and Controversies. Annu Rev Anim Biosci. 2022 Feb 15;10:107-130. doi: 10.1146/annurev-animal-020420-042015. Epub 2021 Nov 17. PMID: 34788545.
- Mennigen JA, Ramachandran D, Shaw K, Chaube R, Joy KP, Trudeau VL. Reproductive roles of the vasopressin/oxytocin neuropeptide family in teleost fishes. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Oct 13;13:1005863. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1005863. PMID: 36313759; PMCID: PMC9606234.
- Tao B, Hu H, Chen J, Chen L, Luo D, Sun Y, Ge F, Zhu Z, Trudeau VL, Hu W. Sinhcaf-dependent histone deacetylation is essential for primordial germ cell specification. EMBO Rep. 2022 Jun 7;23(6):e54387. doi: 10.15252/embr.202154387. Epub 2022 May 9. PMID: 35532311; PMCID: PMC9171691.
- Nozari A, Gagné R, Lu C, Yauk C, Trudeau VL. Brief Developmental Exposure to Fluoxetine Causes Life-Long Alteration of the Brain Transcriptome in Zebrafish. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Apr 28;13:847322. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.847322. PMID: 35573988; PMCID: PMC9097470.
- Ethier JP, Fayard A, Soroye P, Choi D, Mazerolle MJ, Trudeau VL. Life history traits and reproductive ecology of North American chorus frogs of the genus Pseudacris (Hylidae). Front Zool. 2021 Aug 27;18(1):40. doi: 10.1186/s12983-021-00425-w. PMID: 34452622; PMCID: PMC8394169.
- Empey MA, Lefebvre-Raine M, Gutierrez-Villagomez JM, Langlois VS, Trudeau VL. A Review of the Effects of the Biopesticides Bacillus thuringiensis Serotypes israelensis (Bti) and kurstaki (Btk) in Amphibians. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2021 May;80(4):789-800. doi: 10.1007/s00244-021-00842-2. Epub 2021 Apr 19. PMID: 33876257.
- Zhang WS, Farmer EJ, Muhanzi D, Trudeau VL. Petroleum-derived naphthenic acids disrupt hormone-dependent sexual behaviours in male Western clawed frogs. Conserv Physiol. 2022 May 17;10(1):coac030. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coac030. PMID: 35602560; PMCID: PMC9115893
- Silla AJ, Calatayud NE, Trudeau VL. Amphibian reproductive technologies: approaches and welfare considerations. Conserv Physiol. 2021 Mar 16;9(1):coab011. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coab011. PMID: 33763231; PMCID: PMC7976225.
- Mitchell K, Zhang WS, Lu C, Tao B, Chen L, Hu W, Trudeau VL. Targeted mutation of secretogranin-2 disrupts sexual behavior and reproduction in zebrafish. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Jun 9;117(23):12772-12783. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2002004117. Epub 2020 May 28. PMID: 32467166; PMCID: PMC7293709.