Subramanya Lab

News

10/27/2024
The lab is back from Kidney Week 2024 in San Diego. It was a terrific meeting, and it was great to catch up with friends and colleagues. Also, congratulations to Cary Boyd-Shiwarski, who gave a talk on distal tubule WNK bodies during a session on potassium stress and the kidney. Admittedly, a pretty bad picture that doesn’t nearly do justice to her amazing presentation!

09/07/2024
Ro is back from Toronto, where he served as an external examiner for Yu-Xi Xiao’s thesis defense, which she passed with flying colors :) Yu-Xi published a mind-blowing paper earlier this year where she identified new and essential components in WNK signaling condensates. Check it out! The paper is a tour de force that will change how we think about salt transport in the kidney and other organs, so big congratulations to Dr. Xiao and her advisor Jason Moffat. Also, Toronto is an amazing city!

03/11/2024
Much of the lab is back from a terrific site visit at the University of Utah, where we met with our WNK Drosophila collaborators, led by Aylin Rodan. The Drosophila Malpighian tubule is a simplified version of the nephron, and is therefore a great system to study fundamental mechanisms that drive kidney ion transport. We learned a lot during our visit and look forward to continuing our productive collaboration… we also went snowshoeing, which was a blast!

02/23/2024
Our review on molecular crowding is now out in Annual Reviews of Physiology. The review provides an overview on cytoplasmic crowding and its emerging role in a variety of physiological processes.

11/06/2023
Back from an outstanding ASN Kidney Week, where Ro presented the lab’s work on WNK condensates as part of a symposium honoring the legacy of Maurice Burg, a renal physiologist who pioneered the field of tubule microperfusion and published extensively on osmotic stress.

10/30/2023
Our work on WNK condensates was featured in the Fall issue of PittMed magazine. Check out a link to the article here.

08/20/2023
It’s official: Our NIDDK R01 on WNK1 regulation was renewed! In this funding period, we will study how WNK1 phase transitions regulate cell volume and distal nephron physiology. The work is a collaboration with Dr, Aylin Rodan’s group at the University of Utah and our longtime collaborator at Pitt, Dr Dandan Sun.

08/17/2023
Ro just got back from the 11th International Conference on Biological Physics in Seoul, where he presented the lab’s work on crowding sensing and condensate physiology. Just an incredible meeting with amazing sessions, hospitality, and interactions with thought leaders and upstarts in the field of biomolecular condensates. The attention to rigor and function was very evident. So excited for the future of this cutting edge field!

06/09/2023
Ro presented the lab’s work on WNK kinases as physiological crowding sensors at the Telluride Science Research Center’s Workshop on Macromolecular Crowding. A small format meeting with experts in the field of crowding biophysics, with amazing talks ranging from dessication biology to sickle cell disease. And of course, half the talks were on biomolecular condensates :) … A terrific workshop from start to finish.

03/28/2023
Ro presented the lab’s work on WNK kinases as crowding sensors as part of the Cell Size and Growth Virtual Seminar Series, organized by Matthew Swaffer and Jan Skotheim. A special opportunity to interact with scientists obsessed with cell size across the globe.

03/01/2023
Our paper on WNK kinases as molecular crowding sensors was mentioned in a press release by UPMC, and an article by Chemical & Engineering News, with comments by leaders in the field of condensate biology. The paper has been the subject of other editorials as well, including a well summarized commentary from Melanie Cobb’s group.

12/01/2022
There’s been a dearth of updates, but for good reason… we’ve been hard at work on a paper that was just published in Cell! In this work which took six years to complete, we identified a new function for WNK kinases as molecular crowding sensors. They do so by undergoing phase separation, forming liquid-like biomolecular condensates that regulate cell volume. The paper addresses decades-long knowledge gaps in the cell volume regulation and WNK signaling fields, while providing strong support for the relevance of biomolecular condensates in cell physiology. These were problems that Ro was perplexed by when he was a renal fellow… seriously, that’s a long time! Check out the paper here as well as its accompanying editorial.

02/12/2021
Dr. Muhammad Umar Cheema, who performed seminal work on WNK bodies as a graduate student, joins the lab as a postdoctoral associate. Here, he will be investigating the mechanisms underlying potassium secretion in intercalated cells. Great to have you aboard and a warm welcome to the Pitt Renal-Electrolyte community, Umar!

04/17/2020
Our study on the effects of extreme potassium stress on blood pressure and renal tubular ion transport is now out in AJP Renal. We performed an extensive analysis of renal ion transporters extending from the proximal tubule to the collecting duct, and correlated this with changes in blood pressure and diuretic sensitivity in response to three different extreme potassium diets. We learned a lot from this study and hope others will too! Congratulations to K08 Awardee Cary Boyd-Shiwarski, who designed the study and handled all aspects from start to finish. Check it out here at the AJP Renal website.

08/05/2019
Excited to announce that we’ve been awarded a 2 million dollar R01 grant from the NIH to study how WNK kinases coordinate potassium secretion in renal intercalated cells. We are hiring! Postdocs: if you’re interested in joining our group, please see the notice on the “Contact” page and get in touch!

07/25/2019
Welcome to our newest lab member, Dr. Sophia Knoell. Sophie is a UPMC medical resident who did a rotation with us this summer, studying the endocrine response to potassium loading and restriction, and learning how to quantify WNK body formation in tissue. We’re looking forward to working with Sophie during the course of her residency!

06/14/2019
After four great years in the lab, we bid a fond farewell to Kelly Connolly, who is taking her talents to medical school in upstate New York. But… We are delighted to announce our new lab manager, Shawn Griffiths, who recently completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from the University of Pittsburgh. We’ll miss Kelly a ton but are excited to have Shawn on the team… such is the cycle of life in the lab!

04/11/2019
We just got back from a great Experimental Biology 2019 meeting in Orlando. Cary Boyd-Shiwarski had a lot of interest in her work on potassium diets and blood pressure, both at her oral presentation and at the Epithelial Transport Group poster session.

03/18/2019
Congratulations to 4th year med student and lab member Hima Namboodiri, who matched at the University of Southern California for her Internal Medicine Residency!

11/22/2018
A big welcome to Becca Beacham, who joins our team after graduating with honors from Penn State with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. Becca will be primarily assisting Dr. Cary Boyd-Shiwarski with her research projects. She’s already turning into a highly skilled WNK-ologist :)

11/01/2018
Welcome to our new undergrad student, Kate Querry… glad to have you on the team!

10/25/2018
Ro participated in a spirited debate on the distal nephron with his mentor David Ellison at the ASN Basic Science Forum for Emerging Kidney Physiologists, held during ASN Kidney Week in San Diego. While David wowed the audience with his Jedi mastery of the Distal Convoluted Tubule, Ro went to the “dark side” and presented new data indicating how WNKs signal differently in Intercalated Cells. They wore appropriate attire for the occasion!

10/09/2018
Ro was recently promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure. To celebrate the occasion, the lab and colleagues headed out early and went to happy hour. A fine time was had by all!

07/29/2018
Ro is back from the Telluride Workshop on Epithelial Physiology and Cell Biology, where he presented the lab's latest work on WNK Bodies. It was a fantastic week of science, mountain hikes, and Telluride hospitality!

07/17/2018
Cary Boyd-Shiwarski received a five-year K08 award from the NIH to continue her work on WNK Bodies. The K08 is a Mentored Career Development Award that provides research protected time to early career physician scientists to facilitate their transition to independence. Congrats Cary!

07/09/2018
Welcome to MSTP student Helene Altmann, who is joining us for a summer research rotation! This summer, she'll be developing an animal model of diuretic resistance. Lots of hypotheses to test in this interesting area of translational research.

06/01/2018
After three great years in the lab, we bid a fond farewell to our lab manager, Lubika Jeremie Nkashama, who received a full scholarship to attend medical school at the Cleveland Clinic/CWRU Lerner College of Medicine. We'll miss him but we can't wait to see what he does next!

05/22/2018
Welcome to our new undergraduate summer student, Claire Weaver! Claire joins us from the University of Florida and will be studying the effects of different potassium diets on nephron adaptation in mice.

05/18/2018
Cary Boyd-Shiwarski was featured in the University of Pittsburgh Physician Scientist Training Program Website. Check out the You Tube Video Below!