Jessica Tanis
University of Delaware, DE·Biology
Most cells release tiny membrane bubbles called extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs carry proteins, RNA and small molecules from one cell to another.
- Fields
Biology
Genetics
Neuroscience
- Topics
extracellular vesicles
ectosomes
exosomes
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Feb 2031
What they work on
- Characterize newly found genes needed to produce distinct extracellular vesicle (EV) subtypes from the cilia of C. elegans male tail sensory neurons, using genetics and live imaging of fluorescently tagged EV cargoes.
- Define genes that control EV shedding in response to physiological stimuli and the uptake of cilia-derived EVs by surrounding glia, measuring each step quantitatively in living worms.
- Test how oxidative stress changes EV shedding and glial uptake, and what redox-related EV cargoes do, using imaging, behavioral assays and proteomics.
More about the research
These cargoes help run normal body processes. They can also spread disease in neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and kidney disorders. A single cell can release several distinct kinds of EVs. How it does so, and what happens when another cell takes them up, is still poorly understood. This project studies these questions in a living animal, because EV release depends on signals in a cell's natural surroundings.
Why it matters
EVs help spread cancer, neurodegenerative disease, cardiovascular disorders and kidney disease. Learning what controls which EVs cells release, and how receiving cells respond, could explain how EV cargo transfer affects disease. This knowledge could support the development of EV-based diagnostic tests and therapies.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Manuel Ascano
Vanderbilt University, TN·Biochemistry
Identify RNA–protein complexes sorted into extracellular vesicles using EV-CLASP, which crosslinks 4SU-labeled RNAs to their binding proteins, combined with biotin-dependent proximity labeling.
Emanuele Cocucci
Ohio State University, OH·Biology
Perform an unbiased calibration of how the number of circulating extracellular vesicles relates to their cells of origin, using enCD63, an engineered version of the vesicle protein CD63, expressed in specific cells of genetically engineered mice.
Piya Ghose
University of Texas at Arlington, TX·Biology
Determine how mitochondrial trafficking, the transport of the cell's energy-producing organelles, influences elimination of cell processes during Compartmentalized Cell Elimination of the C. elegans tail-spike cell.
The school
University of Delaware: 22 labs on PI Pages, $466M a year on research, 298 research doctorates a year.
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