Jamis McGrath

I joined the Ricci Lab in January 2021. I am highly interested in the sensory system and, specifically, how our cells transduce sensory stimuli into biological signals. My training overall has focused on the maintenance and physiology of specialized sensory “hair cells” which allow us to hear. On the cell surface is a grid of stiff, finger-like protrusions which are interconnected by extracellular proteins and tension across a subset of links open membrane channels. Open channels result in cellular signaling to the nervous system and ultimately the detection of a stimulus. In humans, the vibrations from sound, our head movement, and acceleration (i.e., gravity) are all sensed by hair cells, and all these senses rely on tension in extracellular protein links to transduce their various stimuli. My PhD research in Dr. Ben Perrin’s lab involved the development and maintenance of the protrusion actin cytoskeleton. The region of actin near the channels is much more dynamic than anywhere else within the protrusions and may be related to fine tuning or maintenance of the channels. To understand how the actin cytoskeleton and mechanically gated channels interact, I joined Dr. Tony Ricci. With the tools and experience I gain in his lab, my goal is to investigate deafness-associated mutations in the proteins which contribute to interconnectivity across the protrusions. More generally, I would like to understand how the channel environment and associated proteins influence our sensation of sound. Currently, I am trying to establish our understanding of how mammalian auditory hair cell protrusions are mechanically interconnected. I image the cells at high-magnification and at ultra-fast speeds while recording the electrical response of the cell using patch recordings. The data and insight gained from these experiments will form the basis of future work investigating the specific roles of link proteins and others associated with the channel.

Current projects: Mechanotransduction, Bundle Mechanics, Voltage, Dependent Bundle Motion