Glenn Hatton

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Glenn Hatton; photo courtesy of William Hatton

Glenn Hatton (1934-2009) was a neuroscientist, born in Chicago, Illinois, Illinois (U.S. state), on December 12, 1934, who is known for his pioneering work on the interactions between neurons and glial cells.

Career

Glenn Hatton received his BS from North Central College, Naperville, Illinois in 1960 in Psychology, and MA and PhD in Psychology and Physiology, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1962 and 1964. In 1965 he joined Michigan State University as an Assistant Professor, rose to become Professor of Psychology and Physiology, and was Director of the Neuroscience Graduate Program from 1978 to 1991. In 1992 he joined the University of California, Riverside as founding Chair of the Department of Neuroscience, which later became the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience. He was pivotal in the founding of the Center for Glial-Neuronal Interactions[1] at UC Riverside. He attained the rank of Distinguished Professor twice, at Michigan State University in 1986 and at UC Riverside in 1997

Scientific contributions

"Commonly accepted estimates of the numbers of neurons in the human brain run in the area of 1012, a number that seems to grow with each successive attempt to count the brain's granule cells. To this one must add that there are nine or ten glial cells for every neuron. While these astronomical numbers are dazzlingly difficult to comprehend, they are highly consistent with the emerging concepts of the multitude of functions that are being attributed to this non-neuronal cell class...."[2]

Until the 1980's, it was widely assumed that the structure of the brain is fixed once the process of development is completed in early life, and that glial cells do little more than provide passive structural and metabolic support for the neurons. In studies first published in 1976, Hatton helped to transform this thinking by showing that brain structure is dynamic.

His work was focussed on studies of the supraoptic nucleus in the hypothalamus - an important 'model system' in neuroscience generally and neuroendocrinology in particular. The neurons of the supraoptic nucleus are magnocellular neurosecretory neurons - large neuroendocrine neurons which secrete their products, the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin into the circulation from their nerve endings in the posterior pituitary gland. Much of Hatton's work was aimed at understanding the electrical behaviour of these neurones - the basic mechanisms of cell excitability that produced characteristic patterns of electrical activity that were important for hormone release, and especially in how these properties adapted in different physiologiocal conditions. This led him to an early awareness of the dynamic nature of the interrelationship between glial cells in the supraoptic nucleus and the neurones, and between the glial cells (pituicytes) in the posterior pituitary and the neurosecretory nerve endings there; two classic papers published with Charles Tweedle in in 1976 and 1977, showed clearly using electron microscopy that the anatomical relationships of these elements was not fixed but dynamically regulated in different physiological states [3][4] These papers were the foundations of what became an important theme in neuroscience for the following decades.

In 1981, he came with his family to the Babraham Institute in Cambridge UK to spend a sabbatical year, learning from Bill Mason the then new technique of intracellular recording from supraoptic neurones in the hypothalamic slice preparation.[5] He became an enthusiastic convert to this approach, which he continued to exploit and develop throughout his life.[6]

He published more than 190 articles in books and scientific journals, amongst these were several important and widely cited review articles.[7] Hatton maintained a vast collection of reprints throughout his life, and his scholarship made him an outstanding reviewer of the literature. As a speaker and writer of original research papers he was consistently provocative; as a reviewer he was meticulously balanced.

Glenn Hatton died on January 16, 2009, in Riverside after a brief illness from cancer; he was survived by Patricia, his wife of 54 years, and his children James, William, Christopher, Jennifer, and Tracey Silla. A son, Trent, died in 1988. [8][9]

Afterwords

Gareth Leng, a friend of Glenn's for nearly thirty years adds, "Glenn loved his family first, followed, in no particular order, by good wine, good cheese, good beer, the supraoptic nucleus, his many friends, and argument. He hated Oliver Cromwell."

References

  1. Center for Glial-Neuronal Interactions
  2. Hatton GI (2004) "Morphological plasticity of astroglial/neuronal interactions: functional implications" In Glial Neuronal Signaling ISBN 1402079362 Glenn I. Hatton, Vladimir Parpura (eds) pp 99-124
  3. Tweedle CD, Hatton GI (1977) Ultrastructural changes in rat hypothalamic neurosecretory cells and their associated glia during minimal dehydration and rehydration. Cell Tissue Res 20;18159-72 PMID 880623
  4. Tweedle CD, Hatton GI (1976) Ultrastructural comparisons of neurons of supraoptic and circularis nuclei in normal and dehydrated rats.Brain Res Bull 1:103-21 PMID 184883
  5. Hatton GI et al. (1983)Synaptic activation of phasic bursting in rat supraoptic nucleus neurones recorded in hypothalamic slices. J Physiol 345:297-317 PMID 6663503
  6. Wang YF, Hatton GI (2007) Interaction of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 with actin cytoskeleton in supraoptic oxytocin neurons and astrocytes: role in burst firing. J Neurosci 27:13822-34 PMID 18077694
  7. Review articles of Glenn Hatton
    Armstrong WE, Hatton GI (2006) The puzzle of pulsatile oxytocin secretion during lactation: some new pieces. Am J Physiol 291:R26-8 PMID 16832903
    Hatton GI (2004) Dynamic neuronal-glial interactions: an overview 20 years later Peptides 25:403-11 PMID 15134863
    Hatton GI (2002) Glial-neuronal interactions in the mammalian brain. Adv Physiol Educ 26:225-37 PMID 12443995
    Miyata S, Hatton GI.4:2002 Activity-related, dynamic neuron-glial interactions in the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system. Microsc Res Tech 56:143-57. PMID 11810717
    Hatton GI (1998) Synaptic modulation of neuronal coupling. Cell Biol Int22:765-80 PMID 10873290
    Hatton GI (1999) Astroglial modulation of neurotransmitter/peptide release from the neurohypophysis: present status J Chem Neuroanat 16:203-21 PMID 10422739
    Hatton GI, Li ZH (1998) Neurophysiology of magnocellular neuroendocrine cells: recent advances Prog Brain Res 119:77-99 PMID 10074782
    Hatton GI, Li Z (1998) Mechanisms of neuroendocrine cell excitability. Adv Exp Med Biol 449:79-95 PMID 10026788
    Hatton GI, Li Z (1998) Intrinsic controls of intracellular calcium and intercellular communication in the regulation of neuroendocrine cell activity Cell Mol Neurobiol 18:13-28 PMID 9524727
    Hatton GI (1997) Function-related plasticity in hypothalamus. Annu Rev Neurosci 20:375-97 PMID 9056719
    Modney BK, Hatton GI (1994) Maternal behaviors: evidence that they feed back to alter brain morphology and function Acta Paediatr Suppl 397:29-32 PMID 7981470
    Hatton GI (1990)Emerging concepts of structure-function dynamics in adult brain: the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system Prog Neurobiol 34:437-504 PMID 2202017
    Hatton GI (1988) Pituicytes, glia and control of terminal secretion J Exp Biol 139:67-79 PMID 3062122
    Hatton GI et al.(1988)Synaptic inputs and electrical coupling among magnocellular neuroendocrine cells Brain Res Bull 20:751-5 PMID 3044522
    Hatton GI (1986) Plasticity in the hypothalamic magnocellular neurosecretory system Fed Proc45:2328-33 PMID 3525231
    Hatton GI et al.(1984) Dynamic neuronal-glial interactions in hypothalamus and pituitary: implications for control of hormone synthesis and release. Peptides 5 Suppl 1:121-38 PMID 6384946
    Hatton GI (1983) Some well-kept hypothalamic secrets disclosed. Fed Proc 42:2869-74 PMID 6350049
  8. Passing of Professor Glenn Hatton Obituary UC Riverside
  9. Glenn I. Hatton obituary, society for Neuroscience