Faculty Spotlight
The purpose of this Faculty Spotlight is to allow the community to meet the great folks that are dedicated to regeneration medicine and stem cell research.
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Some biomedical researchers focus on genes. Others on proteins. For Jeremy Reiter, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, the cellular component of choice is the primary cilium. “People have known about this odd organelle for more than a century,” he said. “But until recently, its functions have remained mysterious.” Looking a bit like a sperm tail, the miniscule apparatus extends off the brain’s neurons, wedged between neighboring cells and generally immobile. Its raison d’être is receiving information from other cells and their environment. Cilia in the retina are photosensitive, allowing us to see; cilia in the nose enable us to smell. Cilia in the kidney are thought to sense the constant flow of urine, bending like reeds in a river; if the kidney is injured and the flow stops, the primary cilium signals the kidney to produce more kidney cells.” More >> |
