Faculty Projects and Publications

E. Gordon Grau

Professor of Zoology
Director, University of Hawai'i Sea Grant College Program

Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology
PO Box 1346
Kane‘ohe, HI 96744
University of Hawai‘i at Manoa
2525 Correa Road, HIG 238
Honolulu, HI 96822

Education

Postdoctoral Studies 1979-1982, University of California-Berkeley,
Ph.D. 1978, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
M.S. 1973, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland
B.S. 1968, Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland

Research Interests

The neuroendocrine system regulates development and physiology in fish and coordinates their interactions with their environment. Our studies are based on the idea that reproduction, development, immune function and environmental adaptation are regulated through the orderly release of hormones by the neuroendocrine system, which integrates information from genes and the environment. Such studies can improve the way we utilize and protect the marine organisms, the renewable resources of marine environments. Studies in developmental endocrinology can be used to increase the food supply through aquaculture without compromising environmental health. These studies can also provide new avenues for restoring populations of endangered species, for limiting noxious organisms and for clarifying the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. These chemicals enter the environment through human activity. Their negative impact on marine animals, including fish, can be profound because hormones play a crucial role in controlling development.
The regulation of salt and water balance is a fundamental requirement of life. The structure and function of macromolecules depend closely on their interactions with water and its solutes. Few factors affect the distribution and evolution of an organism as extensively as osmoregulation. Thus, organisms invest considerable energy in controlling precisely the composition of both intracellular and extracellular fluids. In fish, osmoregulation typically consumes 25-50% of the total metabolic output, possibly the largest single component. Osmotic equilibrium is maintained only through the precise interplay of a major portion of the neuroendocrine array. Indeed, the maintenance of osmotic balance in seriously ill patients is among the most difficult challenges in medicine. In view of the cost and importance of osmoregulation, it may seem ironic that the mechanisms that monitor and regulate osmotic balance are so poorly understood. Closer attention reveals the impediment, the typically complex structure and arrangement of osmoreceptive cells and tissues. These problems are obviated by the use of the osmosensitive prolactin cell of a fish pituitary. Prolactin plays a fundamental role in freshwater osmoregulation, and prolactin cells are directly sensitive to extracellular osmolality. Our studies are aimed at elaborating the cellular mechanisms that mediate this osmoreceptive response. The information these studies provide has found useful application in such diverse areas as biotechnology, medicine and aquaculture.

Representative Publications

All publications (Web Page, updated 6/01/2009)
All publications (MS Word document)
Professor Grau’s CV (updated 6/01/2009 ) (Microsoft word format)

Kajimura, S., Hirano, T., Moriyama, S., Vakkuri, O., Leppauluoto J. and Grau E. G. 2004. Changes in plasma concentrations of immunoreactive ouabain in the tilapia in response to changing salinity: is ouabain a hormone in fish? Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 135: 90-99.

Hyde, G. N., Seale, A. P., Grau, E. G. and Borski, R. J. 2004. Cortisol rapidly suppresses intracellular calcium and voltage-gated calcium channel activity in prolactin cells of the tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus). Amer. J. Physiol. ENDOC M 286 (4): E626-E633

Seale, A. P., Richman, N. H., Hirano, T., Cooke, I., and Grau, E. G. 2003. Cell volume increase and extracellular Ca²⁺ are needed for hyposmotically induced prolactin release in tilapia. Am. J. Physiol. 284, C1280-C1289.

Seale, A. P., Richman, N. H., Hirano, T., Cooke, I., and Grau, E. G. 2003. Evidence that the signal transduction for osmoreception is mediated by stretch-activated ion channels in tilapia. Am. J. Physiol. 284, C1290-C1296.

Shepherd, B. S., Sakamoto, T., Mori, I., Nishioka, R. S., Richman III, N. H., Madsen, S., Hirano, T., Bern, H. A. and E.G. Grau. 1997. Somatotropic actions of the homologous growth hormone (tGH) and prolactins in the euryhaline tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 94: 2068-2072.

Borski, R. J., Helms, L. M. H., Richman, N. H. and Grau, E. G. 1991. Cortisol rapidly reduces prolactin release, and cyclic AMP and 45Ca++ accumulation in the cichlid fish pituitary, Oreochromis mossambicus, in vitro. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 88: 2758- 2762.

Grau, E. G., Dickhoff, W. W., Nishioka, R. S., Bern, H. A. and Folmar, L. C. 1981. Lunar phasing of the thyroxine surge preparatory to seaward migration of salmonid fish. Science 211: 607-609.

Research Personnel

Past and Current Students and Associates

Teaching Experience

General biology, human physiology, comparative physiology, and ichthyology.

Professional Experience

2005-2006	Commissioner, Honolulu Charter Commission
2000-present	Director, University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program
1994-2000	Interim Director, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii
1990-1993	Associate Director, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii
1990	Distinguished Visiting Professor, Ocean Research Institute, Tokyo University
1989-present	Professor, Department of Zoology and Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii
1987	Distinguished Visiting Professor, Department of Physiology, University of Alberta
1985-1989	Associate Professor, Department of Zoology and Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii
1982-1985	Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology and Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii
1979-1982	Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Zoology, University of California, Berkeley
1980-1981	Associate, National Science Foundation U.S./Japan Cooperative Science Program of Research in Salmon Biology
1968-1973	Biology and Chemistry Teacher, Loyola Blakefield, Baltimore

Professional Appointments

2009-2010	President, Sea Grant Association
2008	Chair, External Review Committee of the University of Tokyo, Ocean Research Institute
2008	Co-Organizer, University of Hawai‘i/University of Tokyo Symposium on Marine Science
2006-2008	President-Elect Sea Grant Association
2002-present	Chair, Sea Grant Association Special Events Committee
2001-present	Co-Chair, Sea Grant National Theme Team on Coastal Communities and Economies
2000	Organizer, NIH/USDA/NOAA/Sea Grant Symposium on the Interactions among the Endocrine and Immune Systems, and the Environment in Marine Animals
2000-present	Organizer, Joint U.S./Japan Cooperative Research in Fish Endocrinology
1999-present	Advisory Board Hawaii Networked Learning Communities Project
1994-1995	Panel Member, United States Department of Agriculture National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program
1992	Committee Member, Sea Grant Marine Biotechnology Initiative
1991	Co-Chair, Sea Grant Working Committee for the Enhancement of Fish Growth and Development
1991	Chair, NOAA Sea Grant Committee for Marine Resource Development: Enhancement of Fish Growth and Development
1989-1991	Chair, Equal Opportunities Committee, American Society of Zoologists
1988-present	Member, Equal Opportunities Committee, American Society of Zoologists
1985	Organizer, American Society of Zoologists' symposium on the comparative endocrinology of the thyroid
1987-1992	International Committee Member, International Congress of Fish Endocrinology.
1984	Organizer, NSF Joint U.S./Japan seminar on salmonid endocrinology
1986, 1988, 1992, 1996	Organizer, Edwin W. Pauley Summer Program in Fish Physiology and Comparative Endocrinology

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