Swetha Murthy, Ph.D., assistant scientist at the Oregon Health & Science University Vollum Institute, has been designated as a 2023 McKnight Scholar for her innovative work in mechanotransduction — the molecular processes that inform how we experience touch, sound, blood flow and more.
Murthy joins a rare cadre of early career scientists recognized by the McKnight Foundation through its McKnight Endowment Fund. Given to 10 neuroscientists each year, the McKnight Scholar Awards help promising scientists establish their research programs. Awardees receive $75,000 per year for three years.
“Recognition by the McKnight Endowment Fund is a great honor for Dr. Murthy, the Vollum Institute, and OHSU,” said Peter Barr-Gillespie, Ph.D., chief research officer and executive vice president. “This award attests to her continued innovation.”
Murthy’s research focuses on the biological processes that govern how cells and tissues sense and respond to mechanical force. This response — called mechanotransduction — is how mechanical stimuli are converted into biological signals. It’s essential for basic physiology, controlling processes that humans experience, such as touch or hearing, as well as processes that people are not aware of, such as blood pressure regulation. When these processes are disrupted, it can result in hearing loss, high blood pressure and other disorders.
Murthy studies a type of protein that plays a critical role in mechanotransduction: mechanically activated ion channels. Much remains unknown about these common channels, even though many of them are conserved across plants and animals. The goal of the Murthy lab is to characterize the molecular and physiological aspects of one form of these channels, the OSCA/TMEM63 family of proteins, to understand their contribution to mechanotransduction.
Shedding light on the unknown properties of mechanically activated ion channels could lead to new treatments or therapies for diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
The McKnight Scholar award will allow the lab to move in a new direction in this field: studying the role of these proteins in myelination, the process by which nerves are encased in a protective sheath. Myelination is critical for neural health, and when myelination is disturbed, it can cause diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Murthy will study how the TMEM63 protein affects mechanotransduction in the cellular processes of myelination.
Marc Freeman, Ph.D., director of the Vollum Institute director said that Murthy’s research could be transformational. “Mechanosensation is a fascinating area of investigation that touches not only on sensory biology, but on the inner workings of most tissues, since sensing force — for example, during expansion of the stomach after a meal — meaningfully regulates many aspects of biology. It is crucial that we understand how force is transformed into cellular signals, and Dr. Murthy is emerging as one of the bright young stars in the field. She has already contributed in fundamental ways towards our understanding of mechanoreceptors like PIEZO, discovered the OSCA family of mechanoreceptors, and how the Venus flytrap traps flies through mechanosensation. We are thrilled that she has been acknowledged with the very prestigious McKnight Scholar Award and expect her lab to continue to produce innovative and impactful insights into mechanosensory biology.”
Murthy noted that her endeavor in this project is “hugely inspired and supported by the rich glial biology community at the Vollum and the greater OHSU scientific network.”
Murthy received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the State University of New York, Buffalo, where, under the guidance of Gabriela Popescu, she studied gating mechanism of NMDA receptors. She trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Ardem Patapoutian — who won the Nobel Prize in 2021 — at Scripps Research, where she studied the functional and physiological characterization of mechanically activated ion channels. Murthy joined the Vollum Institute as assistant scientist in 2019. She is the recipient of an award recognizing highly innovative scientists at OHSU, the Faculty Excellence and Innovation Award, which is funded by the Silver Family Innovation Fund, as well as an NIH New Innovator Award.
About The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience and the McKnight Foundation
Established in 1986, the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience is an independent organization funded solely by the McKnight Foundation of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its goal is to bring science closer to the day when diseases of the brain and behavior can be accurately diagnosed, prevented, and treated.
The fund has supported neuroscience research for nearly fifty years through the McKnight Scholars program and through its Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Awards, which funds grants to scientists pursuing clinical and translational research. The McKnight Endowment Fund is led by a board of nationally recognized neuroscientists. This year’s awards are the first to emphasize how increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion enhances the excellence of neuroscience research and its impacts.