Renal interoception in health and disease.

Catheter based renal denervation has recently been FDA approved for the treatment of hypertension. Traditionally, the anti-hypertensive effects of renal denervation have been attributed to the ablation of the efferent sympathetic renal nerves. In recent years the role of the afferent sensory renal nerves in the regulation of blood pressure has received increased attention.

A tug of war between DCC and ROBO1 signaling during commissural axon guidance.

Dynamic and coordinated axonal responses to changing environments are critical for establishing neural connections. As commissural axons migrate across the CNS midline, they are suggested to switch from being attracted to being repelled in order to approach and to subsequently leave the midline. A molecular mechanism that is hypothesized to underlie this switch in axonal responses is the silencing of Netrin1/Deleted in Colorectal Carcinoma (DCC)-mediated attraction by the repulsive SLIT/ROBO1 signaling.

Mechanism underlying starvation-dependent modulation of olfactory behavior in Drosophila larva.

Starvation enhances olfactory sensitivity that encourage animals to search for food. The molecular mechanisms that enable sensory neurons to remain flexible and adapt to a particular internal state remain poorly understood. Here, we study the roles of GABA and insulin signaling in starvation-dependent modulation of olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) function in the Drosophila larva.