Concentration in Cell Physiology

Cellular physiology is an area of biology that seeks to understand how extracellular signals or changes in the environment affect the physiology of the cells and/or organism. Work in this area uses a variety of techniques including biochemical, molecular, electrophyiological, and imaging.
Suggested Program of Study and Appropriate Courses >

Faculty mentors:

David Cochrane
Kelly McLaughlin
Barry Trimmer

Cochrane Laboratory
The Cochrane laboratory's interest is in the broad area of neural-endocrine control of immune cell function. This area seeks to understand how the nervous and endocrine systems influence immune cell function. Evidence for such an interaction comes from the fact that stress, depression, and anxiety impair wound healing and cancer survival and exacerbate many chronic inflammatory disorders including asthma, arthritis, allergy, inflammatory bowel disease, interstitial cystitis, and several diseases of the skin such as eczema, psoriasis, and urticarias. The Cochrane laboratory focuses on the mast cell, a cell that is prominent in allergic response and in inflammation, and its regulation by the neural-endocrine peptide, neurotensin. His research uses isolated mammalian cells and whole animals and a variety of pharmacological, biochemical, immunological and molecular techniques.

McLaughlin Laboratory
The McLaughlin Lab The building of organs during embryogenesis constitutes one of the most fascinating, but also least understood developmental processes. Coordinated gene action directs the developmental fate of cells to assemble into complex, three-dimensional structures with characteristic shape, size, and physiological properties. The acquisition of different cell fates initiates an elaborate interplay of cell proliferation, migration, growth, differentiation and death, bringing together cellular ensembles in a precise temporal and spatial manner. The mechanisms which intrinsic and extrinsic factors use to generate cell diversity, coordinate morphogenetic cell movements, and regulate assembly of the different tissue types comprising an organ, define one of the central questions in science today. Our research seeks to discover the basic mechanisms of vertebrate organ development, repair, and regeneration. Recent advances in Developmental Biology hold great promise in many areas of human adult and child health where the discoveries of today develop into the treatments of tomorrow.

Research Summary: The primary objective of our research is to understand how functional organs are created. Although many of the mysteries of biology have been revealed over the years, the precise molecular mechanisms used by organisms to create and pattern tissues and organs remain a mystery. Our lab takes advantage of the powerful molecular developmental model system, Xenoopus laevis (frog) and uses multiple approaches in order to gain a better understanding of how organs are formed including: 1) normal organ developmental processes, 2) organ remodeling, and 3) regeneration.

Trimmer Laboratory
The Trimmer laboratory focuses on the role playedby neurotransmitter receptors and their associated cellular effects in identified motoneurons of the insect Manduca sexta. The general aim of this research is to identify biochemical and molecular processes that underlie simple behaviors. Although we are interested in many neurotransmitter systems, our present research focuses on the different classes of receptors for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) and on the neurotransmitter gas nitric oxide (NO). The biochemistry of cells can be radically altered during stimulation to produce a complex and dynamic response involving many pathways. We are interested in how these pathways interact to produce appropriate and adaptive responses.


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