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Posts by Fernando Santana

PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

Our new paper is out! 🎉
Let-7 doesn’t act through a single pathway: it controls neocortical neuron fate and migration via distinct downstream mechanisms, with RBX2 dedicated to migration. A new layer of post-transcriptional control shaping cortical development
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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Congratulations!

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Phosphoinositide Depletion and Compensatory Phospho-Signaling in Angiotensin II-Induced Heart Disease: Protection Through PTEN Inhibition | Circulation Research BACKGROUND: Contractile dysfunction, hypertrophy, and cell death during heart failure are linked to altered Ca2+ handling and elevated levels of the hormone AngII (angiotensin II), which signals throu...

Compelling new study by @maartjewesthoff.bsky.social, Taylor Voelker, @roseedixon.bsky.social et al. This latest work in Circulation Research explores what happens when angiotensin II signaling becomes chronic. www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/...

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Thanks for a rigorous and constructive review process!

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Beat-locked ATP microdomains in the sinoatrial node map a Ca2+-timed energetic hierarchy and regional pacemaker roles. New study from Manuel F. Muñoz, Fernando Santana @lfsantana68.bsky.social and colleagues @ucd-physiology.bsky.social rupress.org/jgp/article/...

#IonChannels #CardiacMuscle

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Thank you for the thorough, constructive review process!

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Muñoz, @lfsantana68.bsky.social et al. show that beat-locked cytosolic and mitochondrial ATP transients in sinoatrial node myocytes sort into high-gain, low-gain, or consumption-dominant modes aligned with superior–inferior vascular–mitochondrial gradients. rupress.org/jgp/article/...
#CardiacMuscle

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Demonstration of beat‐to‐beat, on‐demand ATP synthesis in ventricular myocytes reveals sex‐specific mitochondrial and cytosolic dynamics Abstract figure legend Beat-locked mitochondrial ATP transients reveal modular, sex-specific bioenergetic control during excitation–contraction coupling. A, each action potential activates L-type CaV...

A new #PMB paper @JPhysiol reveals beat-to-beat ATP dynamics. Imaging shows mitochondrial ATP waves synchronized with contraction and distinct energetic strategies in male vs. female heart cells. Congratulations Paula Rhana, Collin Matsumoto, @lfsantana68.bsky.social

1 month ago 1 2 0 0
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#CallForPapers ⏰️ Don't miss the March 15th deadline! Submit your research on topics including #IonChannel structure and biophysical properties, regulatory mechanisms, pharmacology, physiological functions, disease relevance, and drug discovery 👉 rupress.org/JGP/pages/ca...

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Commentary: Schmidt and Kopec @mpi-nat.bsky.social discuss how Lopez-Mateos et al. @vyy-sf.bsky.social (rupress.org/jgp/article/...) used AlphaFold 2 to generate structural ensembles of voltage-gated sodium channels across different conformations. rupress.org/jgp/article/...

#IonChannels

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I had a great time talking about the importance of storytelling our science at the @biophysicalsoc.bsky.social President’s Symposium today! Always extra fun with my little fan club tags along 🩷

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Apply by Feb 23—Junior Specialist position in #PMB’s Belford Lab

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David Clapham in a lab

David Clapham in a lab

After 50 years in science, former #HHMIInvestigator David Clapham’s advice is simple: “You have to see problem-solving as fun.” From training with Nobel laureates to deepening our understanding of ion channels & leading at HHMI, he retires with a lasting legacy: hhmi.news/3O3kYji.

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Crafting tales of science with Theanne Griffith A lifelong passion for writing helped the neuroscientist land a book deal and publish 15 chapter books for early readers, covering topics ranging from what the cerebellum does to how a cake bakes.

A lifelong passion for writing helped rising star @doctheagrif.bsky.social land a book deal and publish 15 chapter books for early readers, covering topics ranging from what the cerebellum does to how a cake bakes.

By @avaskham.bsky.social

www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...

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Excited to be speaking at this year’s Biophysical Society Presidential Symposium on the importance of communicating science to the public 👩🏾‍🔬🧫🧬🔬🥼🧪👩🏾‍🔬

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Excitability isn't intrinsic to ion channels alone; it's an emergent property of the CMIC Axis. @vesselman.bsky.social & I link Capillaries, Mitochondria & Channels to function. Break the link, lose the function. doi.org/10.1113/JP28... @jphysiol.bsky.social

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Sudha (@chakrapanilab.bsky.social) and Julio (@cvlab.bsky.social) are organizing the 2026 Ion Channel Gordon Research Conference: Ion Channels Across Scales — Bridging Molecular Events to Physiological Outcomes, to be held at Mount Holyoke College, July 12–17, 2026.

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We're incredibly excited to announce that Dr. Theanne Griffith @doctheagrif.bsky.social of #PMB Griffith Lab has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure, effective July 1, 2026! Congratulations, Theanne, on this well-earned achievement! 🎉🌟

Her lab research: www.thegriffithresearchgroup.com

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The Transmitter’s Rising Stars of Neuroscience 2025 We recognize the outstanding achievements of 25 neuroscientists who stand to shape the field for years to come.

Congrats to my colleague Dr. Theanne Griffith @doctheagrif.bsky.social
for receiving a 2025 Rising Star of Neuroscience award! ⭐️ 🧠 ⭐️

www.thetransmitter.org/early-career...

5 months ago 29 9 2 0
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Postdoctoral Scientist - Zhang Lab Primary Work Address: One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616 Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) advances the discovery and s...

🚨 We are recruiting postdocs! If you're interested in reproductive, stem cell/developmental biology, and/or women's health, please apply! 📝 Please repost! 🚩
More info here: hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...

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Arterial Myocyte Pannexin 1 Channel Controls Vascular Reactivity in Diabetic Hyperglycemia - PubMed These results suggest a key role for Panx1 in controlling ATP signaling through the P2Y<sub>11L</sub>/AC5/AKAP5/PKA/Ca<sub>V</sub>1.2 axis in arterial myocytes. This Panx1-led complex modulates cAMP levels, Ca<sub>V</sub>1.2 activity, and vascular reactivity in response to diabetic hyperglycemia. Th …

The third episode of our podcast series just dropped:

navedolab.faculty.ucdavis.edu/podcasts/

This one focuses on our recent study examining vascular Panx1 channels and their role in vascular complications during diabetic hyperglycemia.

Get the paper here:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40636957/

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The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UTHealth Houston has an open search for a tenure-track faculty position. If you are ready (or know someone that is) to start looking for positions, this will be a great opportunity to join the Texas Medical Center. See flyer below. 1/2

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Join me and make a gift! #CrowdfundUCDavis
t.co/zxc7VRKq4p

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Happy to have started as an @hhmi.org Freeman Hrabowski Scholar! Incredibly grateful for this opportunity and am excited for some very cool new directions! We are *HIRING*, especially postdocs! Please reach out if you’re interested in uterine and pregnancy biology. Please repost!

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Enhanced PIEZO1 function contributes to the pathogenesis of sickle cell disease | PNAS Sickle cell disease (SCD), an inherited blood disorder caused by a mutation in the &beta;-globin gene, is characterized by sickle erythrocytes that are ...

Our new PNAS paper "Enhanced PIEZO1 function contributes to the pathogenesis of sickle cell disease" is out: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 1/3

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Redirecting

Editorial on our JACC-EP paper (doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...) is out: Ed Lakatta’s “Mind Your ‘A Game’” (doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...) spotlights SAN capillary rarefaction → slower rate + more beat-to-beat variability, and lays out next tests (hypoxia vs demand; aging/sex). @jaccjournals.bsky.social

7 months ago 2 1 0 0

Major milestone achieved Wednesday: my very first grad student delivered his exit seminar. Dr. Cyrrus Espino is a science rock star and I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to contribute to his development. Very excited to see what’s to come in what will surely be a successful career. Cheers Doc!

7 months ago 17 3 0 0
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Activity-driven proprioceptive synaptic refinement in the developing spinal cord by complement signaling mechanisms Proprioceptive group Ia afferents detect muscle stretch to guide effortless and purposeful movement and make monosynaptic connections with spinal α–motor neurons to mediate reflexes, such as the stret...

Happy to share the my lab's latest preprint, where we investigated sensorimotor circuit formation in the developing spinal cord. We show that proprioceptive axons target motor neurons in neighboring spinal segments to give rise to intersegmental reflex responses.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Beat–locked ATP microdomains in the sinoatrial node map a calcium–timed energetic hierarchy and regional pacemaker roles Pacemaker myocytes of the sinoatrial (SA) node initiate each heartbeat through coupled voltage and Ca2+ oscillators, but whether ATP supply is regulated on a beat–by–beat schedule in these cells has been unclear. Using genetically encoded sensors targeted to the cytosol and mitochondria, we tracked beat–resolved ATP dynamics in intact mouse SA node and isolated myocytes. Cytosolic ATP rose transiently with each Ca2+ transient and segregated into high– and low–gain phenotypes defined by the Ca2+–ATP coupling slope. Mitochondrial ATP flux adopted two stereotyped waveforms—Mode–1 ″gains″ and Mode–2 ″dips″. Within Mode–1 cells, ATP gains mirrored the cytosolic high/low–gain dichotomy; Mode–2 dips scaled linearly with Ca2+ load and predominated in slower-firing cells. In the intact node, high–gain/Mode–1 phenotypes localized to superior regions and low–gain/Mode–2 to inferior regions, paralleling gradients in rate, mitochondrial volume, and capillary density. Pharmacology placed the Ca2+ clock upstream of ATP production: the HCN channel blocker ivabradine slowed the ATP cycle without changing amplitude, whereas the SERCA pump inhibitor thapsigargin or the mitochondrial uncoupler FCCP abolished transients. Mode–2 recovery kinetics indicate slower ATP replenishment that would favor low–frequency, fluctuation–rich firing in a subset of cells. Together, these findings reveal beat-locked metabolic microdomains in which the Ca2+ clock times oxidative phosphorylation under a local O2 ceiling, unifying vascular architecture, mitochondrial organization, and Ca2+ signaling to coordinate energy supply with excitability. This energetic hierarchy helps explain why some SA node myocytes are more likely to set rate whereas others may widen bandwidth. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, https://ror.org/012pb6c26, HL168874 American Heart Association, https://doi.org/10.58275/AHA.25POST1378853.pc.gr.227467

New preprint: Beat-locked ATP imaging in mouse SA node reveals an energetic hierarchy—high-Ca-ATP gain cells set rate; low Ca-ATP gain cells expand bandwidth & stabilize under load. Pacemaking is a beat-to-beat division of labor @ucd-physiology.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Arterial Myocyte Pannexin 1 Channel Controls Vascular Reactivity in Diabetic Hyperglycemia | Circulation Research BACKGROUND: Diabetic hyperglycemia promotes vasoconstriction by activating an ATP-dependent P2Y11L (P2Y11-like receptor)/AC5 (adenylyl cyclase 5)/AKAP5 (A-kinase anchoring protein 5)/PKA (protein kina...

The official release of our manuscript examining arterial myocyte Panx1 role in diabetic vascular dysfunction is out! Massive effort to uncover new mechanisms underlying vascular disease. Power of science! @ucdavis.bsky.social, @ucdavispharm.bsky.social

www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/...

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