Grainger Lab

Mission

To investigate how the autonomic nervous system regulates the vasculature and how normal energy production affects vascular regulation during heart failure.

Key areas of focus

  • Focus on the vasculature, a component in the sinoatrial node, that delivers blood to supply oxygen and nutrients to sustain constant spontaneous action potential generation.
  • Studying how the autonomic nervous system regulates the vasculature.
  • Explore the link between normal energy production and vascular regulation during heart failure.

Lab team

Nathan Grainger, Ph.D., is a research assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med). With a special interest in the vasculature, the Grainger Lab investigates how the autonomic nervous system regulates the vasculature, the energy demands of sinoatrial nodal cells and the negative links between normal energy production and vascular regulation during heart failure. The lab aims to use this information to help prevent heart failure and develop life-saving treatments.

  • Nathan Grainger, Ph.D.: Principal Investigator
  • Sei Kim: Graduate Student
  • Sanya: International Undergraduate Researcher
  • Om Patel: Undergraduate Student
  • Madison Hess: Undergraduate Student

Notable research findings

  • Conducts emerging research on vascular regulation in the cardiac sinoatrial node.
  • Discovered unique vascular heterogeneity across the sinoatrial node and detected a previously unknown correlation with pacemaker cell action potential firing frequency.
  • Interpreting how the nodal vasculature is regulated at a local level, and how these processes may be disrupted during diseases that affect normal heart sinus rhythm.

Equipment, technology and techniques

  • Olympus BX51WI microscope
  • Inverted Olympus IX81
  • Free access to equipment for other investigators
  • Single-cell electrophysiology
  • Single-cell and whole-tissue Ca2+ imaging
  • Microfluidic cell sorting
  • Flow cytometry
  • Molecular and protein quantification techniques
  • Vascular cannulation
  • Primary cell culture
  • Single and bulk-cell RNA-seq and spatial omics

Active grants and research projects

  1. Nevada COBRE in Molecular and Cellular Signal Transduction in the Cardiovascular System.
    • Award: P20 GM130459
    • Funding organization: National Institute of Health (NIH) - National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)