Erica Scheller
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Physiology
Bones are living organs that are constantly rebuilt. They are also shaped by signals from the nervous system and from fat stored inside the bone marrow.
- Fields
Physiology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Neuroscience
- Topics
bone marrow adipose tissue
bone marrow adipocytes
marrow fat
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jan 2031
What they work on
- Define how fat breakdown in constitutive bone marrow adipocytes supports osteoblast bone formation during high sympathetic nerve activity, and test whether this protection persists in aged and post-menopausal states.
- Create bioinformatic digital twin models that simulate how marrow fat cells respond to physiological and disease stress, to inform personalized strategies for preserving bone.
- Track the fate, lifespan and differentiation potential of constitutive marrow fat cells in vivo, and measure bone and muscle changes after these cells are completely lost.
- Isolate how Sarm1, a nerve enzyme that drives axon degeneration, causes nerve damage that weakens bone, building on the finding that Sarm1 knockout prevents bone fragility in diabetic mice.
- Test whether blocking Sarm1 function can restore bone formation and strength in vivo in states of chronic Sarm1 activation, such as diabetes.
More about the research
When these signals go wrong, as with aging, diabetes or nerve damage, bones can weaken and break. This research asks how nerves and marrow fat cells talk to bone, and whether those conversations can be changed to protect the skeleton.
Why it matters
Age- and disease-related bone loss and fractures cost about $19 billion a year in the U.S. and shorten healthy lifespan. Understanding how nerves and marrow fat control bone could point to new treatments for people with osteoporosis after menopause, diabetes, nerve damage, cachexia (wasting) or other conditions. One such route is Sarm1 inhibitors, which are already being developed for neurodegenerative disease.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
John Fowlkes
University of Kentucky, KY·Physiology
Determine how deficiencies of insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) each contribute to diabetic bone disease at the tissue, cellular and molecular levels in models of type 1 diabetes.
Neha Dole
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, AR·Physiology·Early-career
Identify which bone cells produce Lipocalin-2 (LCN2), a secreted protein that rises with age, and define their contribution to skeletal aging in mice.
Carol Everson
Medical College of Wisconsin, WI·Physiology
Test whether chronic sleep restriction after skeletal maturity impairs bone remodeling and increases fragility, by sleep-restricting male and female rats for 10 weeks and measuring bone strength, structure and cellular features.
The school
Washington University in St Louis: 97 labs on PI Pages, $1.2B a year on research, 365 research doctorates a year.
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