iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Valeria Vásquez R @valeriavasquez.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

If you’re in the Houston area, the Astros are hosting a donation drive TODAY until 7 pm to support those affected by the devastating earthquake in Venezuela 🇻🇪 Items include first aid and medical supplies, Diapers, Baby food Please consider stopping by the stadium www.instagram.com/reel/DaQrQeE...

instagram.com

omarvizquel13 on Instagram: "Tomorrow! HELP Venezuela at Daikin Park Union StationView all 52 comments"

Tomorrow! HELP Venezuela at Daikin Park Union Station

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Kara Marshall @karalmarshall.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Excited to share a new preprint, led by @yasmeen-hamed.bsky.social! It describes a mechanism and potential therapeutic avenue for treating the aging bladder! Thanks to the amazing collab from the Beyder lab, as well as @valeriavasquez.bsky.social, Lichtarge labs! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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Charles D Cox @charlesdcox.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Looking for a cell line that natively expresses PIEZO2 - we’d say avoid MCC13. Unlike Merkel cells the native mechanically-evoked currents in this line are largely carried by PIEZO1. And like many other cell lines that we’ve tested the slow components come from MDFIC/MDFI tinyurl.com/3mmnwhpp

tinyurl.com

Understanding the molecular components of mechanically evoked currents in the Merkel cell line MCC13

Merkel cells are epithelial cells involved in the discrimination of light touch. Situated in the skin, these specialised cells decode mechanical cues through the mechanosensitive ion channel PIEZO2. M...

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Charles D Cox @charlesdcox.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Not the greatest ride for this one but happy with the end result - a sensory neuron specific protein that regulates PIEZO1/2. Lots of cool things left to show with this protein! MDFIC2 is a sensory neuron–specific PIEZO channel auxiliary subunit | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

pnas.org

MDFIC2 is a sensory neuron–specific PIEZO channel auxiliary subunit | PNAS

PIEZO channels are critical for sensory mechanotransduction. While MyoD-family inhibitor proteins were identified as PIEZO1 auxiliary subunits, the...

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 07/04/2026

Tucker Carlson: "It's vile. It begins w/ a promise to use the US military to commit a war crime. Those people who are in direct contact w/ the president need to say 'No. I'll resign. I'll do whatever I can do legally to stop this, bc this is insane. And if given the order, I'm not carrying it out'"

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Using electrophysiology, cryo-EM, molecular simulations, and in vivo models, we also identify a druggable inhibitory site that could guide future therapies for cerebellar ataxia. (2/4)

science.org

Functional and structural basis of a hypermorphic TRPC3 variant

Structural snapshots capture an ataxia-linked overactive ion channel in its open state and reveal a druggable site for inhibition.

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Here is the morph video summarizing some of the changes we found in a TRPC3 hypermorphic variant (Science Advances, Science Magazine) (4/4)

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

We are grateful to all the authors and collaborators who made this study possible. Special thanks to everyone in the Cordero-Morales and Vásquez laboratories (especially Briar Bell, Angela Jaramillo-Granda, and Luis Romero), as well as to our collaborators. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... (3/4)

science.org

Functional and structural basis of a hypermorphic TRPC3 variant

Structural snapshots capture an ataxia-linked overactive ion channel in its open state and reveal a druggable site for inhibition.

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Excited to share our new paper in Science Advances @science.org In this work, we uncover how a disease-linked TRPC3 mutation, together with a cerebellum-specific splice isoform, stabilizes the channel in an open state, drives Calcium overload, and promotes neurodegeneration. (1/4)

science.org

Functional and structural basis of a hypermorphic TRPC3 variant

Structural snapshots capture an ataxia-linked overactive ion channel in its open state and reveal a druggable site for inhibition.

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

A great opportunity to bring trainees, exchange ideas, and connect across disciplines. Registration is open: www.grc.org/ion-channels... 3/3

grc.org

2026 Ion Channels Conference GRC

The 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Ion Channels will be held in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Apply today to reserve your spot.

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

We have an outstanding speaker lineup, including Keynote Talks by Kenton Swartz, Nancy Carrasco, Miriam B. Goodman (@wormsense.bsky.social), and Francisco Bezanilla. Trailblazer Spotlights presented by Ed Twomey (@cryoet.bsky.social)and Theanne Griffith (@doctheagrif.bsky.social). 2/3

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

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. 1/3

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Carolina A. Miranda @cmonstah.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

What's especially insane about all of this is that Maduro is going to get more due process than the Venezuelan migrants deported to CECOT.

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

1. The longest isoform resembles a Mercedes-Benz steering wheel in top view. 2. The long and intermediate isoforms are semi-flattened and differ from the mammalian domes. 3. Multiple blade–cap contacts stabilize a “toggle-down” conformation. 3/5

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Briar and Angela (CV Lab) solved three structures from heavily spliced worm isoforms. Along the way —while solving the structures, characterizing their function, and evaluating effects on membrane curvature— we ran into several surprises: 2/5

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

This work was a collaboration with Mat Baker (UTHealth Houston), the Chesler Lab @alexchesler.bsky.social (NIH), and the Sotomayor Lab (University of Chicago). 5/5

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

4. The pore-distal, N-terminal blade is dispensable for mechanoactivation: the intermediate isoform is not only functional, but also inactivates more slowly than the long isoform. 5. The intermediate isoform induces larger membrane deformation than the long isoform. 4/5

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

The Cordero Vásquez Lab is starting the year on a high wheel (see below) with our latest work on the C. elegans PIEZO channel: “Structures of invertebrate PEZO-1 isoforms with a compact architecture and a dispensable pore-distal N-terminal blade”: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 1/5

sciencedirect.com

Structures of invertebrate PEZO-1 isoforms with a compact architecture and a dispensable pore-distal N-terminal blade

PIEZO channels are mechanosensitive ion channels conserved from plants to humans, yet structures exist for only a few mammalian orthologs. We define t…

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Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 13/11/2025

And here is the story after peer review. This work highlights our current approach, which is to use Piezo channels to uncover new areas of biology that are shaped by mechanical forces: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

PIEZO channels link mechanical forces to uterine contractions in parturition

Mechanical forces are extensively involved in pregnancy and parturition, but their precise roles and mechanisms remain poorly understood. We identified mechanically activated ion channels PIEZO1 and P...

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Checking in on the *ceasefire* www.cnn.com/2025/11/19/m...

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. " www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...

uni-konstanz.de

Early Career Rescue Fellowship

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Annika Barber @annikabarber.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Up to 323 cancelled CSR study sections. That's more than the 204 sections cancelled earlier this year. Rescheduling is going to be a hot mess with NIH staff reductions and study section members heading into finals and holidays that limit availability. 🧪

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Thanks to our team members (Luis Romero, Manisha Bade, Sonia Paz-López) and collaborators (Elisa Carrillo, Vasanthi Jayaraman @frettinglab.bsky.social , Syed Hasan, William James Antonisamy, and Zahoor Shah) 6/6

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Our results highlight cytoskeletal dysregulation as a key driver of ion channel and behavioral deficits, and suggest that actin-binding proteins may be targets to enhance motor coordination and spatial learning in AS. 5/6

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Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 10/10/2025

The Nobel Peace Committee sent a clear message to someone else in awarding the Prize to Ms. Machado: ”But democracy is also in retreat internationally. Democracy – understood as the right to freely express one’s opinion, …is the foundation of peace both within countries and between countries.” 👏

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Valeria Vásquez R @valeriavasquez.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

“The Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 goes to a brave and committed champion of peace – to a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.” www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace...

nobelprize.org

Nobel Peace Prize 2025

The Nobel Peace Prize 2025 was awarded to Maria Corina Machado "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transi...

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Yamuna Krishnan @krishnanyamuna.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Exciting finding of Piezo1 being upregulated in RBCs and plays a role in sickling of those cells. Loved this paper!

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

This study was a collaborative effort across multiple groups, led by our first graduate student, Dr. Luis Octavio Romero, in partnership with graduate student Manisha Bade. 3/3

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Cordero-Vásquez Lab @cvlab.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

PIEZO1 is abnormally overactive in sickle red blood cells (humans and mice). In mice, an EPA-enriched diet normalized PIEZO1 and reduced hemolysis, hypoxia-induced sickling, and downstream inflammation, suggesting a potential dietary strategy to support people living with sickle cell disease. 2/3

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Valeria Vásquez R @valeriavasquez.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

“Elections don’t matter anymore. They’re just for show. We decide who wins before the first ballots are even printed. You think power changes hands because of a vote?” www.caracaschronicles.com/2025/07/15/c...

caracaschronicles.com

Conversations with a Regime Insider | Caracas Chronicles

Two decades after leaving Venezuela, I’ve maintained a bond with an active chavista official who insists that the ruling elite remains unchallenged, and unwilling to concede power

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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 04/07/2025

🧵(4/4) 🇺🇸This Independence Day, practice your patriotism by supporting these brave civil servants: EPA: act.standupforscience.net/forms/epa-ad... NIH: act.standupforscience.net/forms/add-na... Our legacy is built on the premise that the populist many CAN overcome the tyrannical few. Keep it going.

act.standupforscience.net

ADD YOUR NAME: Sign the Open Letter in Support of NIH Staff

Join the courageous and committed National Institutes of Health (NIH) public servants by adding your name now.

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Theanne Griffith, PhD 🇧🇧👩🏽‍🔬🇭🇷 @doctheagrif.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

I’m so honored to be selected as both a 2025 McKnight Scholar and 2025 HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar. And I couldn’t be prouder to share these honors with awesome @ucdavis.bsky.social colleagues 💙💛💙💛 health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlin...

health.ucdavis.edu

UC Davis researchers honored by McKnight and Howard Hughes Medical Institute

UC Davis faculty Sergey Stavisky, Theanne Griffith and Elisa Zhang receive prestigious early-career recognition from McKnight Endowment Fund and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 19/06/2025

I spoke with Jade Hindmon, host of @kpbssandiego.bsky.social Midday Edition, about the consequences of the current administration’s cuts to science funding. Please share to help spread the word and raise awareness. www.kpbs.org/podcasts/kpb...

kpbs.org

Nobel laureate on how Trump's cuts are hurting science

Neuroscientist, biologist and 2021 Nobel Prize winner Ardem Patapoutian joined Midday Edition to talk about how the Trump administration's effort to cut back on science spending is impacting researche...

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Coleen Murphy @ctmurphy1.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Highlighting this new paper NOT by my lab, but by Andres Vidal-Gadea's lab: doi.org/10.7554/eLif... #Celegans - more to say on this later 🧪

doi.org

Independent Validation of Transgenerational Inheritance of Learned Pathogen Avoidance in Caenorhabditis elegans

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Theanne Griffith, PhD 🇧🇧👩🏽‍🔬🇭🇷 @doctheagrif.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Today I had the honor of speaking in front of nearly 3000 people today at the Woodland #NoKings rally. WE FEAR NO KING BECAUSE WE DONT HAVE ONE ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾 let’s gooooooo

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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Join @votesaveamerica.crooked.com, @hrc.org and @immdef.bsky.social as they join together for a rally in D.C. on Friday, June 6th at 5pm ET to protest the unlawful disappearance of Andry Romero and many, many others like him who have been stripped of due process. 🔗 votesaveamerica.com/andry

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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

"Women are PIs on 58% of the canceled grants, although they are PIs on only 34% of all active NSF grants. Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 29/04/2025

The man at left separated the mother and baby at right. The mother is now in Venezuela. Baby daughter, in foster care in the US, exact location unknown. Dad? He's in CECOT prison without trial — because he had tattoos.

Mother and young baby wearing a pink hat

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Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 03/05/2025

The president is recommending a 40% cut to next year’s NIH budget. This would be disastrous for our nation’s health and economy. Please contact your representatives, especially if they are Republicans, and tell them why this cannot happen. An easy option: 5calls.org

5calls.org

5 Calls

Spend 5 minutes. Make 5 calls. Make your voice heard.

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Alex Chesler @alexchesler.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Huge congratulations to the always amazing, truly brilliant @clairelepichon.bsky.social who just received TENURE from our NIH intramural program.

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Alex Chesler @alexchesler.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

An example of what we in the NIH Intramural program can accomplish. Excited to share our latest paper in close collaboration with Nick Ryba's group. We examined how inflammation transforms representation in somatosensory neurons to cause pain. Lots of surprises here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

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Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 03/05/2025

Bravo, Kara! We desperately need scientists finding creative ways to connect with the public, explaining how science works and why it matters. Take @karalmarshall.bsky.social up on her offer, grab those slides, and find an audience that needs to hear this! #proudmentor

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Kara Marshall @karalmarshall.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Gave a talk at my parents’ retirement community to describe how science is done, and what is at stake. There was a ton of interest, and anyone can do this. Get the word out about how science affects everyone. I’m happy to share slides with anyone who asks- just get in touch! youtu.be/BY_SFgi-Cig

youtu.be

Kara Marshall PHD-History of Science in America - Trilogy at Tehaleh 04/27/25

YouTube video by Steve Lawson

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Valeria Vásquez R @valeriavasquez.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Local elections matter! Now more than ever

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