The Neuroskeletal Biology Laboratory at Washington University (Scheller Lab)

Congratulations to Dr. Erica Scheller on her promotion to Associate Professor. Her contributions and dedication have earned her this well-deserved recognition. Congratulations, Dr. Scheller!

Xiao Zhang, a PhD student in the Scheller lab attended the Biomedical Engineering retreat in Minnesota. This regional career conference helps strengthen and diversify the next generation of researchers, giving them the opportunity to network with leaders in the field. It also provides a great opportunity to learn from faculty and peers about academic careers […]

Xiao Zhang and Lila Dabill had a great time meeting some of their favorite science celebs at #ENDO2023. Thankful that such esteemed members of the community are there to encourage the next generation!

The Scheller Lab members presented their posters at the Musculoskeletal Research Symposium while Dr. Scheller presented her postdoc Dr. Muhammad Hassan’s research. The annual MRC symposium always challenges us to grow by putting our work out there. Congratulations to our experienced pros and first time presenters, and especially Xiao Zhang for taking home one of […]

This past Thursday, the Scheller Lab went to the Cardinals Game for a day out. The members enjoyed lunch at Salt and Smoke before heading to the game. They also celebrated Anurag’s last day in the lab as he departs for medical school.

Kyle Koester, an undergraduate at the Scheller Lab, under mentorship of Dr. Muhammad Hassan, successfully presented his poster at the WUSTL undergraduate symposium. His poster talked about the effects of maternal and grandmaternal diet on offspring craniofacial morphology.

We recently attended the TRINS Neurometabolism Symposium at Ohio State University. Graduate researchers of the Scheller Lab, Lila Dabill and Xiao Zhang presented their posters at the symposium. We enjoyed meeting with other labs and discussing our shared interest of neurometabolism.

Obesity and nutrient oversupply increase mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling in multiple cell types and organs, contributing to the onset of insulin resistance and complications of metabolic disease. However, it remains unclear when and where mTOR activation mediates these effects, limiting options for therapeutic intervention. The objective of this study was to isolate the role of constitutive […]

Dr. Scheller recently had the opportunity to present the ongoing work in the lab on neural regulation of bone and BMAT as part of two seminars at Wayne State University and University of Pittsburgh. She also presented an educational seminar on skeletal innervation and bone pain to the leadership at AgNovos.

Undergraduates Anna Li and Anurag Majumdar were selected to join the 2022 class of BioSURF summer research fellows. They will spend 10-weeks full time over the summer pursuing their projects on the origins of skeletal innervation and neural regulation of bone marrow adiposity.

We recently attended the MRC/CRM Symposium. Postdoc Jen Brazil and 3rd year graduate student Xiao Zhang gave oral presentations while Ivana Shen, Anurag Majumdar, and Anna Li/Alec Beeve presented posters. Alec Beeve/Anna Li were selected to receive an outstanding poster award.

4th year BME student Alec Beeve was recently awarded an NRSA F31 fellowship from the NIH to support his work entitled “Neuroskeletal crosstalk in load induced bone formation”. Congratulations to Alec on his first research award!

Welcome to Dr. Hassan as he officially joins the lab to begin his postdoctoral fellowship training. In addition, congratulations to Mohamed on his acceptance into the Leadership and Management in Action Program in the division of Postdoctoral Affairs at Washington University for Fall of 2021.

Anurag is an undergraduate student at Washington University majoring in Biology: Neuroscience. He is currently working to identify cerebral regions of leptin sensitivity or abnormality in response to chronically high leptin levels. Anna is an undergraduate student studying Biomedical Engineering at Washington University. She will be assisting in bone scan analysis and projects investigating bioelectric […]

Bone marrow adipocytes accumulate with age and in diverse disease states. However, their origins and adaptations in these conditions remain unclear, impairing our understanding of their context-specific endocrine functions and relationship with surrounding tissues. In this study, by analyzing bone and adipose tissues in the lipodystrophic ‘fat-free’ mouse, we define a novel, secondary adipogenesis pathway […]

The lab was selected to receive 1-year of funding to support the study of Sarm1, neuropathy, and bone health in adolescent girls with type 1 diabetes. We hope that this will lead to new opportunities for early intervention with neuroskeletal therapeutics.

Background/Aims: Bioelectric nerve stimulation (eStim) is an emerging clinical paradigm that can promote nerve regeneration after trauma, including within the context of diabetes. However, its ability to prevent the onset of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) has not yet been evaluated. Beyond the nerve itself, DPN has emerged as a potential contributor to sarcopenia and bone disease; […]

Bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) is an important cellular component of the skeleton. Understanding how it is regulated by the nervous system is crucial to the study of bone and bone marrow related diseases. BMAT is innervated by sympathetic and sensory axons in bone and fluctuations in local nerve density and function may contribute to […]

Nerves in bone play well‐established roles in pain and vasoregulation and have been associated with progression of skeletal disorders including osteoporosis, fracture, arthritis and tumor metastasis. However, isolation of the region‐specific mechanisms underlying these relationships is limited by our lack of quantitative methods for neuroskeletal analysis and precise maps of skeletal innervation. To overcome these […]

The detection and quantification of protein biomarkers in interstitial fluid is hampered by challenges in its sampling and analysis. Here we report the use of a microneedle patch for fast in vivo sampling and on-needle quantification of target protein biomarkers in interstitial fluid. We used plasmonic fluor—an ultrabright fluorescent label—to improve the limit of detection […]