Cell and Molecular Biology

The graduate program in Cell and Molecular biology is an interdisciplinary program with expertise in many areas of modern cell and neurobiology. Research interests of the faculty are diverse and reflect a variety of state of the art approaches towards understanding function of the cytoskeleton, neuron-glial interaction, cell survival and death, host-pathogen interaction and developmental neurobiology. The faculty members are leaders in their fields, and provide excellence and dedication in graduate training.

Faculty research interests:

Dr. Nihal Altan-Bonnet studies how organelles are built and maintained in cells. She is particularly interested in the specialized organelle biogenesis, which takes place during viral infection. Using a combination of live-cell time-lapse confocal microscopy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy with fluorescent protein, lipid and nucleic acid reporters, Dr. Altan-Bonnet are investigating the mechanisms involved in building viral replication organelles and identifying their unique properties, which facilitate viral RNA replication. Dr. Bonnet has openings for a post-doc and a technical staff member!

Visualization of Golgi (orange) at the perinuclear region. Microtubules (green) and the nucleus (blue).
Dr. Edward Bonder is interested in how the structure, function and dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton serves to modulate cellular activities associated with morphogenesis, cell-cell contact formation, and organelle motility.  
Dr. Ann Cali specializes in the study of obligate intracellular eukaryotic organisms, of the Protistan phylum, Microsporidia, in all types of host phyla both invertebrate and vertebrate (including humans). Their development, specialized organelles and interaction with the host-cell cytoplasm is studied with the aid of cell culture, immuno- and histochemical labeling and electron microscopy.

EM image of a sporophorous vesicle containing sporoblasts and sporogenesis of a late sporoblast.
Dr. Wilma Friedman investigates specific cellular mechanisms of cytokine and neurotrophin actions on CNS neurons and glia. Her laboratory uses primary cultures of embryonic neurons and glia, in vivo models of injury, to investigate mechanisms by which specific cytokines and trophic factors influence neuronal survival, and to identify stimuli that regulate production of cytokines and trophic factors. The work is geared to understanding how these factors affect glial and neuronal function, and how they may ultimately influence neuronal survival under inflammatory conditions associated with disease in the brain.

Microglial cell ramified in culture expressing surface OX-42 (red) and CD86 (green).
Dr. Jorge Golowasch studies the cellular mechanisms of long-term plasticity of the electric properties of rhythm-producing neurons. His work examines how these mechanisms enable neurons and small neuronal networks to recover their normal rhythmic activity after big perturbations. Protein expression and function, and their regulation by paracrine agents via intracellular signaling molecular pathways (neuronally and hormonally released small molecules acting on the nervous system), is the central aspect of these studies. Techniques used in these studies include electrophysiology, pharmacology, imaging, molecular biology and computational.

A crab stomatogastric ganlion neuron in dissociated culture is recorded electrophysiologically. Insets: dendritic endings.
Dr. Andrew Hill studies rhythmic patterns of activity in the nervous system.  These rhythms are important for essential functions such as breathing, walking, chewing, and cognition.  He is interested in the basic cellular and synaptic mechanisms that contribute to the generation of these rhythms as well as how these rhythms are modified in a behaviorally appropriate manner.  He is specifically studying the rhythmic neural network in the mammalian brainstem that generates the motor patterns that underlie breathing.  The survival of an animal depends on the ability of this respiratory network to respond appropriately to (1) the release of neuromodulators from specific brainstem nuclei and to (2) changes in basic physiological parameters such as CO2 and O2 tension.  One project in his lab involves testing the effects of prenatal nicotine on the postnatal development of the brainstem respiratory network.  Prenatal nicotine exposure is a serious health problem because it adversely affects important protective reflexes that are mediated by the brainstem respiratory network.  He uses electrophysiological, anatomical, pharmacological, and computational methods.

The slice preparation of the mouse brainstem contains the pre-Bötzinger complex (PBC), which generates the basic inspiratory rhythm for respiration. This rhythmic nucleus drives the activity of motor neurons located in the hypoglossal nucleus (XII). One source of modulatory input to the PBC is the raphé obscurus (RO).
Dr. G. Miller Jonakait studies the interaction between the nervous and immune systems with a particular focus on the role of microglia during embryonic brain development as well as their potential role as antigen-presenting cells in the more mature brain.

Cell surface receptor erbB2 activation (red) at the nodal region (green) of a myelinated nerve fiber.
Dr. Haesun Kim studies molecular mechanisms that regulate structure, function and genesis of the myelinating glial cell lineages in the nervous system. She also investigates signal transduction mechanisms involved in destruction of myelin which is relevant to a broad range of demyelinating disorders including Multiple Sclerosis, Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy, peripheral neuropathies secondary to chemotherapy and diabetes and spinal cord injury. Her laboratory uses both in vitro primary culture system and in vivo animal models to investigate molecular mechanisms of myelination and demyelination.  
Dr. Edward Kirby studies nitrogen utilization and metabolism in woody plants. His research utilizes a molecular approach to engineer ammonium assimilation in hybrid poplar by overexpression of glutamine synthetase (GS). His lab is assessing global gene expression profiles and regulatory networks controlling nitrogen assimilation, growth, and drought response in GS transgenic poplar using transcriptomic and metabolite analysis.  
Dr. Farzan Nadim studies the cellular and synaptic mechanisms that give rise to oscillatory activity in networks of neurons. His research focuses on the interaction between short-term mechanisms of synaptic plasticity and the nonlinear properties of membrane ion channels in neurons of pattern-generating networks. A particular focus of the research is long-term modifications of intrinsic and synaptic mechanisms by neurally and hormonally released modulators. These neuromodulatory effects can give rise to distinct activity patterns from neurons and result in reconfiguration of networks and behavior.

Confocal reconstruction of the Alexa Fluor 568 dye-fill of a pyloric dilator neuron. Also shown are extracellular (blue) and intracellular recordings of the neuron.
Dr. Alex Rodriguez studies the extent to which local protein synthesis of specific mRNAs mediates the metastatic potential of normal epithelial cells. Cancer is a leading cause of death in the United States and represents a major public health problem. During the pathology of cancer, cells are thought to undergo a transition from normal epithelia to a more aggressive mesenchymal phenotype known as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The mesenchymal cells are then able to leave the site of the primary tumor and colonize distance tissues in a process called metastasis. Ultimately it is the development of multiple metastases that finally overwhelms the immune system leading to death. The long term goal of his research is to understand the molecular pathways that control EMT and metastasis to provide novel therapeutic approaches to treat cancer and prevent metastasis.