April 17, 2025
Trimming neuronal axons involves a distinct pathway and a rare pathogen-sensing immune protein that could have implications for Alzheimer’s disease. Neurons have the remarkable ability to kill parts of themselves without dying in a phenomenon known as axon pruning. During axon pruning, neurons trim unnecessary axons, long, threadlike projections from nerve cells that transmit electrical …
February 25, 2025
O’Brien will map the kidney nerve network from acute injury to chronic disease for the first time in a high-risk/high reward project. Sympathetic and sensory neurons innervate the kidney, with sympathetic neurons playing key roles in regulating blood flow and fluid balance and sensory neurons sending critical information about physiological changes within the kidney to …
February 24, 2025
Understanding the influence of blood vessels on liver recovery may be the first step in developing better treatments for liver injury and solving the problem of why some drugs fail in the pharmaceutical market. The human liver naturally cleanses the body of most toxins, but this comes at a biological cost. Medication, dietary supplements, and …
February 4, 2025
The UNC Provost’s Office awarded Heather McCauley a Junior Faculty Development Award to create a new humanized mouse model that more closely replicates complex epithelial and immune cell dynamics in the gut. Lining the intestines are rare hormone-producing cells called enteroendocrine cells that sense nutrients, gut microbes, and metabolites in the food we eat. These …
December 31, 2024
2024 was a productive year for researchers in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology. In this In the Loop: Year in Review newsletter, explore their scientific discoveries, uncover upcoming opportunities for collaboration and learning, and gain insights into the faculty and students that power the department’s culture and scientific breakthroughs. Download a PDF of …
December 17, 2024
Using technology first designed by Bryan L. Roth, MD, PhD, the Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology, researchers at the UNC School of Medicine have engineered a molecular technology that can turn off pain receptors. Pain is meant to be a defense mechanism. It creates a strong sensation to get us to respond to a …
December 16, 2024
The Department of Cell Biology and Physiology held its annual holiday party on December 11th. Students, faculty, and staff from the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology gathered on December 11th to show appreciation for each other and celebrate another successful year of research and collaboration. The event included an array of food and desserts …
December 5, 2024
CBP graduate student, Kimberly Lukasik, received a National Cancer Institute F99/K00 predoctoral to postdoctoral fellow transition award. Kimberly Lukasik, a graduate student in Stephanie Gupton’s laboratory is the first student from the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology to win a F99/K00 award from the National Cancer Institute. The award supports outstanding doctoral candidates and …
December 5, 2024
Danica Dy stepped out of her comfort zone to build new bioinformatic tools in the biopharmaceutical industry. This summer Danica Dy made a bold but strategic move to enhance her skillset and prepare for her future career. She completed a bioinformatics internship focused on cancer research with IQVIA. Dy, a graduate student in Robert Wirka’s …
December 3, 2024
Sarah Cohen and her collaborators received a 2024 Allen Distinguished Investigator Award to develop a game-changing microscopy tool for visualizing multiple organelles in live cells. Cells are anything but stagnant. From wound healing to metastasis, diverse cell types shuttle around the body to complete vastly different tasks. What few people tend to notice, though, is …
