General Biology Seminar

ABSTRACT: Deprivation of tissue oxygen and subsequentdeoxygenation cause pathological responses in many disorders, including ischemic stroke, heart attacks, angina (chest pain),repercussion injury and inflammatory pain. How animals use molecules and cells to sense tissue hypoxia and reoxygenation during ischemia and reperfusion and prevent injury are long-standing questions of key biomedical importance. Using C. elegans to study responses to oxygendeprivation and restoration, I found a novel behavior that models key aspects of mammalian tissue response to reperfusion injury and inflammatory pain (Ma et al. 2012 Neuron; Ma et al. 2013 Science). From unbiased genetic screens, I discovered a novel molecular pathway that controls this behavior and is likely evolutionarily conserved. My research program aims to elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying this robust and highly tractable behavior. In addition, I envision that my previous training in both C. elegans genetics and mammalian biology will synergize to allow me to discover novel conserved molecular and cellular pathways and mechanisms for metabolic and physiological homeostasis, internal state-driven animal behaviors and hypoxia-reoxygenation-related diseases, including ischemia-reperfusion injury and inflammatory pain.