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Cell Biology & Physiology


News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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20,000 neurons keep steady time when working together

WUSTL research finds individual cells isolated from the biological clock can keep daily time, but are unreliable

Sept. 9, 2009 --
An isolated nerve cell busy keeping time.
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Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have shown that individual cells isolated from the biological clock can keep daily time all by themselves. However, by themselves, they are unreliable. The neurons get out of synch and capriciously quit or start oscillating again. The biological clock, a one-square millimeter area of the brain just above the roof of the mouth and atop the crossing of the optic nerves, comprises about 20,000 neurons. These cells, remarkably, contain the machinery to generate daily, or circadian, rhythms in gene expression and electrical activity. But the individual cells are sloppy and must communicate with one another to establish a coherent 24-hour rhythm.


Cancer succumbs to bee stings

Tumors feel the deadly sting of nanobees

Aug. 10, 2009 --
A computer simulation of a nanoparticle showing its core of perfluorocarbon (green) and its lipid coating (red, orange and blue).
When bees sting, they pump poison into their victims. Now the toxin in bee venom has been harnessed to kill tumor cells by researchers at the School of Medicine. The researchers attached the major component of bee venom to nano-sized spheres that they call nanobees.


New named professorship

Kelle Moley named James Crane Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology

June 23, 2009 --
Kelle H. Moley, a world-renowned reproductive biologist, has been named the first James P. Crane Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the School of Medicine. Moley, vice chair for basic science research and director of the Division of Basic Science Research in obstetrics and gynecology, was installed in the new professorship at a ceremony June 10.



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Faculty Experts:

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Ralph Quatrano

Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., is the Spencer T. Olin Professor in Arts and Sciences and chair of the Department of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. He is internationally known for his plant science work on patterns of embryo formation, and how the patterns lead cells to acquire traits or ...


Expertise: Plants, plant biology, botany, moss, genome, algae, genes, …

Direct contact: (314) 935-6850 / rsq@wustl.edu
Shirley Sahrmann

Professor of cell biology and physiology

Clinically, Sahrmann specializes in musculoskeletal pain syndromes and neuromuscular dysfunction syndromes. Her research interests include motor control and the classification of musculoskeletal pain syndromes.


Expertise: musculoskeletal pain syndromes, neuromuscular dysfunction syndromes, motor control

Media assistance: (314) 286-0111 / williamsdia@wustl.edu


Keith Hruska

Professor of nephrology

Hruska is a leader in studies of the links between the kidney and the skeleton, which can cause devastating side effects for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Kidneys and bones produce factors that support each other's development and maintenance, and when CKD damages the kidney and reduces ...


Expertise: kidney, chronic kidney disease, bone, bone weakening, adynamic bone disorder, secondary hyparathyroidism, bone morphogenetic protein

Media assistance: (314) 286-0122 / purdym@wustl.edu


Frank Yin

Chairman of the Department of Biomedical Engineering; The Stephen and Camilla Brauer Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Yin
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Frank C. P. Yin, M.D., Ph.D., the Stephen and Camilla Brauer Professor of Biomedical Engineering and chair of the biomedical engineering department, is a world-renowned biomedical engineer. Yin heads a dynamic, young department, not yet five years old and already ranked among the top 20 in the nation. ...


Expertise: soft tissue mechanics, cell mechanics, hemodynamics

Direct contact: (314) 935-6164 / yin@wustl.edu


F. Sessions Cole

Park J. White Professor of Pediatrics

Cole
Cole
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F. Sessions Cole, M.D., the Park J. White Professor of Pediatrics, is the Director of the Division of Newborn Medicine, and he oversees the 52-bed neonatal intenstive care unit (NICU) at St. Louis Childern's Hospital. His research focuses inherited infant lung diseases, surfactant protein-B deficiency, ...


Expertise: newborn medicine, genetic lung disease in infants

Media assistance: (314) 286-0119 / leydigk@wustl.edu



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Related News Clips:

Showing 3 Clips.
Insights Into Cell Movement Likely to Aid Immune Study, Cancer Research
ScienceDaily.com and 5 others

Jan. 9, 2008 -- WUSTL School of Medicine scientists have used yeast cells to better understand a collection of proteins associated with the formation of actin networks, which are essential to cell movement. WUSTL cell biology and physiology Professor and senior study author John Cooper, WUSTL physics professor Anders Carlsson, and Brian Galletta, a postdoctoral scholar in Cooper's lab, comment.


Study suggests new factor contributing to heart disease
St. Louis Post-Dispatch and 35 others

May 26, 2005 -- According to a new WUSTL study published in Nature, faulty metabolism can damage your heart. This new study indicates that bad metabolism could cause blockages in blood vessels, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. WUSTL cell biologist and physiologist Clay Semenkovich comments.


Need to eat some fat to burn fat
myDNA.com and 9 others

May 10, 2005 -- Working with mice, WUSTL researchers led by cell biology and physiology professor Clay Semenkovich found that where fat comes from determines whether the body can metabolize it effectively. Fat around the belly, thighs or bottom can't be burned efficiently unless "new" fat is eaten in the diet or made in the liver.



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jdryden@wustl.edu

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Revised:

Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004


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