Xiao presented his thesis “Catecholamine-independent lipolysis drives the end-stage utilization of bone marrow adipose tissue” on July 23, 2024.
Congrats to Xiao Zhang for successfully defending his thesis
Author: scheller
Minielly receives 2025 Ralph S. Quatrano Prize
Katherine Minielly, a former undergraduate in the lab, who will earn a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the McKelvey School of Engineering May 12, has been chosen to receive the 2025 Ralph S. Quatrano Prize, given in honor of Ralph Quatrano, the Spencer T. Olin Professor Emeritus, dean of Engineering from 2010 to 2015 […]
Dr. Scheller presents at Wayne State, University of Pittsburgh, and AgNovos (Links to an external site)
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.
Anna Li and Anurag Majumdar selected as BioSURF fellows (Links to an external site)
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.
Presentations and awards at the 2022 MRC/CRM Symposium (Links to an external site)
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.
Alec Beeve awarded NIH F31 fellowship (Links to an external site)
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 and congratulations to Dr. Mohamed Hassan (Links to an external site)
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.
Welcome to our new undergraduates – Anurag Majumdar and Anna Li (Links to an external site)
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 […]
A bone-specific adipogenesis pathway in health and disease (Links to an external site)
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 […]
Scheller Lab to receive funding from the Diabetic Complications Consortium (Links to an external site)
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.
Neuroskeletal Effects of Chronic Bioelectric Nerve Stimulation in Health and Diabetes (Links to an external site)
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; […]
Neural regulation of bone marrow adipose tissue (Links to an external site)
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 […]
A neuroskeletal atlas: spatial mapping and contextualization of axon subtypes innervating the long bones of C3H and B6 mice (Links to an external site)
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 […]
Microneedles for ultrasensitive biomarker detection (Links to an external site)
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 […]
Immunostaining of Skeletal Tissues (Links to an external site)
Immunostaining is the process of identifying proteins in tissue sections by incubating the sample with antibodies specific to the protein of interest, then visualizing the bound antibody using a chromogen (immunohistochemistry or IHC) or fluorescence (immunofluorescence or IF). Unlike in situ hybridization, which identifies gene transcripts in cells, immunostaining identifies the products themselves and provides […]
Postdoc Dr. Mohamed Hassan awarded RLM fellowship (Links to an external site)
Dr. Hassan was recently selected as the 2020 recipient of the Rita Levi-Montalcini Postdoctoral Fellowship in Regenerative Medicine by the Washington University Center of Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Hassan is a dentist-scientist with training in Orthodontics and will join the lab in the Summer of 2021 to begin his work. Congratulations, Mohamed!
Madelyn Lorenz unveils the Neuroskeletal Atlas at ASBMR (Links to an external site)
After 4 years of hard work, Madelyn Lorenz was selected to present her new Neuroskeletal Atlas of the Mouse Limb as a featured oral presentation at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) annual meeting. The Atlas is currently in preparation for publication and we anticipate having it available for preliminary use through […]
JBMR Nerves in Bone review ranked #3 in yearly downloads (Links to an external site)
Congratulations to postdoctoral fellow Dr. Jennifer Brazill and her co-authors on publishing the 3rd most downloaded paper from JBMR over the past year – “Nerves in Bone: Evolving Concepts in Pain and Anabolism”. This speaks to the high quality of the article and the emerging interest in the field. Great work!
Xiao Zhang wins two research awards for work on marrow fat (Links to an external site)
Xiao Zhang won two of the prestigious awards for research at the recent BMA2020 meeting. After an independent committee review, his oral presentation “Fat in a fatless mouse: a novel origin of maladapted bone marrow adipocytes with age and disease” won 1st place in the best abstract category. In addition, his 2nd abstract “Neural contributions […]
Big happenings at the BMA2020 meeting (Links to an external site)
The 6th Annual Meeting of the Bone Marrow Adiposity Society (BMA2020), co-organized by our very own Dr. Scheller, was quite the event. With 55 abstracts, 11 invited speakers, 205 attendees, and even a live trivia event hosted by American Ninja Warrior’s Alex Weber – it was one for the books. Congratulations to Dr. Scheller on […]
Many congratulations to Hero Robles as he begins medical school (Links to an external site)
Hero has been with us in the lab from the beginning, first as an undergraduate and then as a technician. We will miss him greatly, but are so proud to have been part of his journey to becoming a medical professional. Best of luck Hero!
Marrow adipose tissue has distinct roles in glucose homeostasis (Links to an external site)
Great to see this manuscript come together in the Cawthorn lab after many years of hard work, including his brand new BMAT imaging and analysis techniques and lots of lingering data generated by Drs. Cawthorn and Scheller when they worked together as postdocs in the MacDougald lab (Dr. Scheller made some of the blots in […]
Dr. Scheller elected to the board of ISBM (Links to an external site)
Dr. Scheller was elected to serve as a 2020 – 2022 board member for the International Society of Bone Morphometry (ISBM). She will work with the society and board to develop the field of skeletal imaging and morphology, including hosting the 2022 ISBM meeting in Denmark.
Graduate student Alec Beeve awarded BMES travel award (Links to an external site)
Mr. Beeve was selected as a recipient of the Department of Bioengineering travel award to attend the BMES conference in San Diego, CA where he will present his work on the acute and chronic regulation of bone by bioelectric stimulation of the sciatic nerve. Congratulations Alec!
Ivana Shen awarded 2020 BioSURF Fellowship (Links to an external site)
Ms. Ivana Shen was awarded a 2020 BioSURF fellowship to pursue her work on the relationship between nerve quality and bone health in mice and humans with diabetes. Congratulations, Ivana!
Visits to UCLA and UCSF prompt discussions about nerves in bone
Dr. Scheller was hosted by Dr. Tamara Alliston and the to UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery to present the ongoing work in the laboratory pertaining to neural regulation of skeletal pathophysiology as part of the CCMBM seminar series. She then traveled to the UCLA School of Dentistry to visit with Dr. Paul Krebsbach and to […]
Welcome to Mr. David Mingyu Shin
David Shin is currently a junior and was previously majoring in Economics and Accounting at Washington University in St. Louis prior to following the call to change his major to Biology. We welcome David to the lab and look forward to working with him to develop his scientific skills.
Refreshable Nanobiosensor Based on Organosilica Encapsulation (Links to an external site)
Implantable and wearable biosensors that enable monitoring of biophysical and biochemical parameters over long durations are highly attractive for early and presymptomatic diagnosis of pathological conditions and timely clinical intervention. Poor stability of antibodies used as biorecognition elements and the lack of effective methods to refresh the biosensors upon demand without severely compromising the functionality […]
Bone marrow adipose tissue does not express UCP1 (Links to an external site)
Adipocytes within the skeleton are collectively termed bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT). BMAT contributes to peripheral and local metabolism, however, its capacity for cell-autonomous expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), a biomarker of beige and brown adipogenesis, remains unclear. To overcome this, Ucp1-Cre was used to drive diphtheria toxin expression in cells expressing UCP1 (Ucp1Cre+/DTA+). Despite […]
Welcome to Dr. Alexander Ahmadi and Xiao Zhang
A warm welcome to two new trainees. Dr. Alexander Ahmadi joins us from the Saint Louis University (SLU) periodontics residency program. Dr. Ahmadi will be working with us on the oral biosensor project. Xiao Zhang is currently visiting as a rotation student from the BME program at Washington University. Xiao will investigate the properties and […]
Shared Autonomic Pathways Connect Bone and Adipose Tissue. (Links to an external site)
Bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) is increased in both obesity and anorexia. This is unique relative to white adipose tissue (WAT), which is generally more attuned to metabolic demand. It suggests that there may be regulatory pathways that are common to both BMAT and WAT and also those that are specific to BMAT alone. The […]
Dr. Scheller discusses nerves, bone, and adiposity at ISBM2019 (Links to an external site)
Dr. Scheller attended the XIVth Congress of the International Society of Bone Morphometry as an invited speaker and enjoyed the opportunity to share our work on nerves in bone and neural regulation of bone marrow adiposity.
Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Natalie Wee presents at ASBMR (Links to an external site)
Dr. Wee was selected for a podium presentation for her work entitled “Shared autonomic pathways connect bone marrow and peripheral adipose tissues across the central neuraxis”. She presented during the session on ‘Bone-Lipid Connections’ at the recent 2019 ASBMR meeting. This work was also recently accepted for publication in Frontiers in Endocrinology. Congratulations Natalie!
Congratulations and farewell to Dr. Craft
Dr. Craft has worked with us since the founding of the lab in 2016 and her contributions have helped to shape the lab into what it is today. We are thankful for her science and her leadership during the past few years. We wish her all the best as she transitions into her new career!
Dr. Scheller closes out the BMA2019 meeting (Links to an external site)
Dr. Scheller presented on neural regulation of marrow fat and its connections across the central neuraxis as the final talk of the 5th International Meeting on Bone Marrow Adiposity in Odense, Denmark.
Peripheral Neuropathy as a Component of Diabetic Skeletal Disease (Links to an external site)
The goal of this review is to explore clinical associations between peripheral neuropathy and diabetic bone disease and to discuss how nerve dysfunction may contribute to dysregulation of bone metabolism, reduced bone quality, and fracture risk. In addition, we address therapeutic and experimental considerations to guide patient care and future research evaluating the emerging relationship […]
Madelyn Lorenz and Alec Beeve present at ISAN 2019 (Links to an external site)
Members of the lab recently attended the 11th Congress of the International Society for Autonomic Neuroscience to share their science with other SPARC investigators and the autonomic neuroscience community. The lab presented two posters including “Nerves of the Bone: Foundational Neuroanatomical Mapping of Skeletal Nerves from Bone to Brain” (Lorenz) and “Acute and chronic responses […]
Nerves in bone: evolving concepts in pain and anabolism. (Links to an external site)
This review provides a historical perspective of the field of skeletal neurobiology which highlights the diverse yet interconnected nature of nerves and skeletal health, particularly in the context of bone anabolism and pain.
Alec Beeve appointed to the Skeletal Disorders Training Program (Links to an external site)
In addition to successfully passing his qualifying examination, Alec Beeve was recently appointed to a competitive graduate student fellowship position on the Skeletal Disorders Training Program (T32). Congratulations to Alec on his exam and his research fellowship to study the effects of acute and chronic bioelectric nerve stimulation on skeletal health.
BioSURF summer research fellowship awarded to Nasja Wickerhauser (Links to an external site)
Congratulations to Nasja on her summer research fellowship to study the interplay and relationships between diabetic neuropathy and skeletal disease.
Exploiting Self-Capacitances for Wireless Power Transfer. (Links to an external site)
Conventional approaches for wireless power transfer rely on the mutual coupling (near-field or far-field) between the transmitter and receiver transducers. In this paper, we show that when the operational power-budget requirements are in the order of microwatts, a self-capacitance (SC)-based power delivery has significant advantages in terms of the power transfer-efficiency, receiver form-factor, and system […]
Characterization of the bone marrow adipocyte niche with 3D-EM. (Links to an external site)
The bone marrow adipocyte (BMA) exists in a microenvironment containing unique populations of hematopoietic and skeletal cells. To study this microenvironment at the sub-cellular level, we performed a three-dimensional analysis of the ultrastructure of the BMA niche with focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM).
Bone marrow adipocytes resist lipolysis and β-adrenergic stimuli (Links to an external site)
Bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) is preserved or increased in states of caloric restriction. Similarly, we found that BMAT in the tail vertebrae, but not the red marrow in the tibia, resists loss of neutral lipid with acute, 48-hour fasting in rats. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon and its seemingly distinct regulation from peripheral white […]
Jennifer Brazill begins T32 fellowship (Links to an external site)
Dr. Jennifer Brazill, a post-doctoral fellow with previous training in neurobiology, was appointed to the Skeletal Disorders Training Program T32 in the Division of Bone & Mineral Diseases at Washington University. For her fellowship, Dr. Brazill will study the physiologic integration of the neural and musculoskeletal systems in states of health and diabetes.
Using tooth sensors to detect disease (Links to an external site)
Collaborative research team developing biological sensors that would analyze saliva, send information electronically to doctors.
Undergraduate Research Symposium (Links to an external site)
Hero Robles discusses the nuances of bone marrow adiposity with the next generation of researchers. (Washington University Undergraduate Research Day, 2017)
Evolution of the Marrow Adipose Tissue Microenvironment (Links to an external site)
In this review, we discuss the initial evolution of MAT in vertebrate lineages while emphasizing comparisons to the development of peripheral adipose, hematopoietic, and skeletal tissues. We then apply these evolutionary clues to define putative functions of MAT. Lastly, we explore the regulation of MAT by two major components of its microenvironment, the extracellular matrix […]