Kai Mesa

Mesa Laboratory

Looking for motivated postdocs interested in doing exciting research at the intersection of immunology and regenerative biology. We use intravital two-photon imaging to track and manipulate immune cell behavior at the single-cell level in live animals mesa-lab.org Apply: apply.interfolio.com/180660

Niche-specific dermal macrophage loss promotes skin capillary ageing - Nature Capillary-associated macrophages are selectively lost over time, contributing to impaired vascular repair and reduced tissue perfusion in older mice.

When Macrophages Disappear, Skin Blood Vessels Age!
Check out our new study @nature.com that uncovers how the loss of capillary-associated macrophages with age blocks vessel repair and blood flow, revealing a new cellular trigger of tissue aging. #Aging #Immunology
👇👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A few days late, but I’m happy to post our recent publication on body-to-brain signaling regulation of memory in Nature Aging:

FEBS|EMBO Women in Science Awardees – Nominate for the Women in Science Award – EMBO Nominees should be female scientists working in an EMBC Member State or FEBS member country, who have made outstanding contributions to life sciences research and significantly advanced our…

The FEBS | EMBO Women in Science Award aims to highlight the major contributions made by female scientists to #LifeSciences research. Winners of the award are inspiring role models for future generations of #WomenInScience

Nominate a scientist by 15 May: www.embo.org/the-embo-com... 🧪

🔬 A new probe developed by Janelia researchers & collaborators that enables visualization of extracellular matrix structure in live tissues could also be useful in studying diseases linked to changes in the extracellular matrix and in diagnostic imaging ➡️ www.janelia.org/news/looking...

Cold comforts: animals form memories about temperature The experience of cold temperatures leaves a lasting impression on the brain, according to a new study published April 23, 2035 in the journal Nature. The study was conducted through a collaborative e...

Immunologists and neuroscientists collaborate to show experience of cold temps leaves a lasting impression on the brain. In Nature paper today by labs of Princeton's Lydia Lynch @lydialynch.bsky.social and Trinity College Dubin's Tomás Ryan @tjryan.bsky.social. molbio.princeton.edu/news/2025/co...

2022 MolBio Scholars: (l-r) Amy Wuwu, Lance Li, Spencer Danner-Bocks, Peyton Carpen, Shukuru Rushanika, Nivitha Murali, Rafaella Shima, Kirsten Underwood, and Cayetana Lazcano Etchebarne.

Interested in graduate training in molecular and cellular biology? Consider the MolBio Scholars program. A fully funded visit to Princeton to learn about grad admissions, meet MolBio faculty, postdocs, and grad students, and attend the departmental retreat. molbio.princeton.edu/graduate/mol...

Submicron-Sampling of Living Cells by Macrophages https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.10.648051v1

(l-r) Ai Ing Lim of Princeton University, Pavitra Muralidhar of the University of Chicago, and Kavita Rangan of Johns Hopkins University.

Congrats🎉 to MolBio's Ai Ing Lim, one of three 2025 Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator Award Recipients! “This grant means freedom… I can take more risks.” genestogenomes.org/this-grant-m...

Opinion | The Uncertain Fate of the Young American Scientist (Gift Article) Young researchers are choosing between staying in science and staying in the United States.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/o...

Really important piece to share widely. Too many Americans don’t know how severe a threat this Administration poses to our scientific infrastructure, global leadership, and health security

Very cool:

Interested in aging?

Super excited about this upcoming Keystone meeting!! 🧪🌲🌲
Aging: Immune Function and Organ Health -- Banff, Canada in 2026!!! ✨✨

Joint meeting with the Keystone Innate Immunity meeting!

#aging #immunity @keystonesymposia.bsky.social

www.keystonesymposia.org/conferences/...

Epithelial polarization by the planar cell polarity complex is exclusively non–cell autonomous For cells to polarize collectively along a tissue plane, asymmetrically localized planar cell polarity (PCP) complexes must form intercellular contacts between neighboring cells. Yet, it is unknown wh...

How many cells do you need to establish PCP? The magic number is 3! Beautiful work by Lena Basta in Danelle Devenport's lab. Happy to have contributed. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Excited to share our revised manuscript! We adapted new live imaging tools to track the same tissue resident macrophages for months in aging mice. We found a macrophage population that contributes to vascular health in young skin, but is lost as we age...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

From MBoC
@jraslab findings demonstrate that Langerhans cells exhibit context-specific changes in calcium activity and highlight the utility of skin as an accessible model for imaging calcium dynamics in tissue-resident macrophages.

www.molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/...

Extrasinusoidal macrophages are a distinct subset of immunologically active dural macrophages Extrasinusoidal dural macrophages are a distinct subset of immunologically active central nervous system–associated macrophages.

This week in #Science #Immunology: Lukas Amann, Marco Prinz, & colleagues at @uni-freiburg.de report that #extrasinusoidal #macrophages in the #mouse #DuraMater represent a distinct subset of #CNS -associated macrophages whose role is shaped by #autoimmune #neuroinflammation! #neuroimmunology

A flyer of all the 2025 Advanced Research Training Courses available at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA with course titles, dates, and application deadlines listed. Visit mbl.edu/courses for more information.

Excited to announce that our 2025 Advanced Research Training Course schedule is up and applications are open! 🎉🎉🎉

See you in Woods Hole! mbl.edu/courses

🧪🐙🦑🧠🐟

One of the alluring and theoretical strategies for extending healthspan and longevity is to rejuvenate the thymus gland, promote an intact immune system. Now there's a way to do that in aged mice.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Gene behind orange fur in cats found at last After 60 years, scientists know why gingers, calicos, and tortoiseshells look the way they do

After 60 years, scientists finally know why ginger, calico, and tortoiseshell #cats look the way they do. scim.ag/3BpxRxY

Tapping into Bacterial Conversations | HHMI Over the course of 30 years, HHMI Investigator Bonnie Bassler has helped usher in a new branch of science centered on quorum sensing, the process by which bacteria communicate with one another and orc...

Learn more about her lab and their work: www.hhmi.org/news/tapping...