Center for Cellular Dynamics

Supporting research in cytoskeleton and intracellular transport, cellular changes during development and disease, cell-cell communication and interactions, and live imaging

Our members also participate in departmental graduate programs, as well as interdisciplinary graduate programs organized through the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

We use the Center to share ideas and expertise, to organize events that stimulate creative thinking, and to create a more collaborative and exciting research community.

Recent publications: In vivo observations of a fluorescent protein may spark development of novel cancer treatments
Using a technique known as Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation (BiFC), Zhi-Chun Lai and his lab have directly visualized the activation of the Hippo (Hpo) tumor-suppressor pathway in living cells.; Researchers identify gene required for nerve regeneration
A team led by Melissa Rolls has found that a mutation in a single gene can completely shut down the process by which axons, nerve-cell components responsible for sending signals to other cells, regenerate after being damaged.; Protein required for flexible behavior is identified
Researchers have identified in mice a protein that is necessary for maintaining behavioral flexibility, the ability to adapt to changing circumstances; their findings may offer new insights for addressing such human afflictions as autism and schizophrenia, in which this ability is significantly impaired.

News: Nine Huck Institutes faculty members featured in Discovery U videos
Peter Hudson, Scott Selleck, David Hughes, Melissa Rolls, Paula Droege, Tracy Langkilde, Phil Bevilacqua, Stephen Schaeffer, and Robert Paulson talk about research that's driving scientific discovery at Penn State. Nine Huck Institutes faculty members featured in Discovery U videos - Full article; Yingwei Mao receives two major grants
The American Heart Association and the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation have each awarded Dr. Mao with a grant intended to provide support for promising beginning scientists. Yingwei Mao receives two major grants - Full article; Penn State professor receives $500,000 grant for breast cancer research
Andrea Mastro was awarded the grant by the U.S. Army Medical and Materiel Command Breast Cancer Program in order to further her study of bone metastasis. Penn State professor receives $500,000 grant for breast cancer research - Full article

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Graduate programs: Cell and Developmental Biology; Genetics; Neuroscience; Plant Biology