Lori O'Brien's Avatar

Lori O'Brien

@llobrienlab.bsky.social

Dev bio, cell bio, stem cells, regen med, all things kidney. Punk rock and whisky enthusiast. Personal account and opinions. #firstgen

979 Followers  |  1,108 Following  |  63 Posts  |  Joined: 20.11.2023  |  2.0964

Latest posts by llobrienlab.bsky.social on Bluesky

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We present multi-immersion Oblique Plane microscope (miOPM), a light-sheet platform that can be adapted to a wide range of applications, from sensitive live cell imaging to imaging organs and cleared tissues.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

06.10.2025 17:52 β€” πŸ‘ 111    πŸ” 42    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 2
Figure from our review paper showing various fluorescence microscopy images of cells and structures of the kidney

Figure from our review paper showing various fluorescence microscopy images of cells and structures of the kidney

Sharing this excellent review now out from postdoc Sarah McLarnon! Lots of useful info on 3D imaging, quantification of imaging data, and how this has been applied to the kidney. And since it's #FluorescenceFriday, sharing a figure with our own imaging data!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

03.10.2025 23:29 β€” πŸ‘ 36    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
RhoA (blue) and the actin cytoskeleton (magenta) are shown in a set of primary microglia.

RhoA (blue) and the actin cytoskeleton (magenta) are shown in a set of primary microglia.

For #FluorescenceFriday, RhoA (blue) and the actin cytoskeleton (magenta) are shown in a set of primary microglia πŸ”¬ #Neuroscience #Microscopy

03.10.2025 13:07 β€” πŸ‘ 81    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 1
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My entry for today’s #FluorescenceFriday: a pupal #Drosophila testis with muscles expressing
πŸ”΅ lifeact &
πŸ”΄ RFP-nls

Honored & grateful to receive an honorable mention at @healthcare.nikon.com Nikon Small World πŸŒπŸ”¬βœ¨

πŸ”— www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/20...

#NikonSmallWorld #Microscopy #ScienceArt

03.10.2025 09:06 β€” πŸ‘ 212    πŸ” 40    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 1
Zoomed up image of the collecting ducts of an adult mouse kidney. The collecting ducts are labeled with an AQP2 antibody and are green. They look like long green squiggles.

Zoomed up image of the collecting ducts of an adult mouse kidney. The collecting ducts are labeled with an AQP2 antibody and are green. They look like long green squiggles.

And a zoomed view of the intricate collecting system.

26.09.2025 17:51 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Image of a fluorescently labeled adult mouse kidney showing AQP2 staining of collecting ducts and connecting segment in green and alpha SMA staining of the arterial tree in magenta. The collecting ducts look like squiggly branches.

Image of a fluorescently labeled adult mouse kidney showing AQP2 staining of collecting ducts and connecting segment in green and alpha SMA staining of the arterial tree in magenta. The collecting ducts look like squiggly branches.

For this #FluorescenceFriday, a gorgeous image of an adult mouse kidney labeled with AQP2 and alpha SMA antibodies. AQP2 (green) marks the collecting duct and distal connecting segment while SMA marks the arterial tree. Courtesy of talented postdoc Sarah McLarnon.

26.09.2025 17:51 β€” πŸ‘ 113    πŸ” 32    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 0
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Rescued these two beauties today, one stuck in the parking garage stairwell and one from inside the house (and rescued from 3 very interested cats)

26.09.2025 01:23 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Sensory neurons drive pancreatic cancer progression through glutamatergic neuron-cancer pseudo-synapses @cp-cancercell.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cancer-cell/...

25.09.2025 15:10 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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❀️ I have one too and love it!

23.09.2025 22:46 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I am very sorry, how incredibly frustrating. From canceled and rescheduled study sections and council meetings, excellent scores being told they would be funded, only to end up here. It certainly has been exhausting.

10.09.2025 12:48 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you, am trying to cheer myself up by looking at hot off the press cool new data related to this renewal app. 😭

09.09.2025 23:43 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you and totally agree, too many of us here between canceled grants and new funding models just dropped on us. Hoping there’s a chance for change in FY26 so there’s not more of us in this situation.

09.09.2025 22:57 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This is me, one of those 211. My A1 R01 renewal would have been funded otherwise, and I was even initially told they planned to fund it. Now very unlikely. No more chances with this one. We had so many good things going-how do we keep moving forward? A question many of us will be asking.

09.09.2025 22:40 β€” πŸ‘ 30    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
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How can cells self-organize rapidly into complex patterns during development?

Let’s explore a powerful and underappreciated mechanism: Directed Cell Migration (DCM).

Preprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social : doi.org/10.1101/2025...

πŸ‘‡Thread 🧡(1/11)

30.07.2025 07:00 β€” πŸ‘ 51    πŸ” 18    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 4

In the same boat with my R01 competitive renewal. Feeling any hope is now gone.

30.07.2025 01:48 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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They managed to perform somite transplants 😱

29.07.2025 18:58 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Somites are a source of nephron progenitors in zebrafish - Nature Communications This study reveals that cells of the zebrafish kidney can originate from the somites, structures traditionally held as precursors to the skeletal muscle, challenging a century-old paradigm and prompti...

Intermediate mesoderm isn't the sole contributor to nephrons in zebrafish-new manuscript out showing somites are a source of nephron progenitors! Very cool, dogma challenging study led by Alan Davidson's group. Many fun discussions were had-grateful for the inclusion! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

29.07.2025 18:50 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

@jeremymberg.bsky.social If they can stop or stall the multi year funding from moving forward in FY26, can this 50% multi year strategy still be enforced for the remainder of FY25? Currently have an R01 caught in this limbo for FY25 funding consideration.

29.07.2025 17:36 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Alert: The Trump administration is quietly slashing new NIH grant awards, and it's not via the budget NIH’s sudden move to multiyear grant funding is forcing shocking cuts in the number of grants funded. This is an effective budget cut. It's bad, folks.

New, from an anonymous NIH insider: Trump is being pushed to spend more NIH money. The White House is ordering NIH to do multi-year budgets for awards. This budget trick means fewer awards, fewer labs funded, and lower paylines for researchers. 🧡
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/alert-the-...

28.07.2025 14:21 β€” πŸ‘ 593    πŸ” 323    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 32

The NIH was healthiest when pay lines were in the 20th percentile range.

We are headed into an environment where pay lines are in the 5% range.

In my entire career, I’ve only had 3 grants that scored better than 5%. And my lab is considered a successful one.

This is going to destroy science.

28.07.2025 20:12 β€” πŸ‘ 242    πŸ” 80    πŸ’¬ 15    πŸ“Œ 3

Congrats!

24.07.2025 18:27 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A beautiful tour through an AAV-PHP.B-GFP-transduced intact cochlea as visualized via lightsheet microscopy after tissue clearing. Magenta is a hair cell marker, yellow is a neuron marker, and green is AAV-GFP (relatively low hair cell transduction rate in this specific sample).

24.07.2025 15:59 β€” πŸ‘ 59    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 2

#FluorescenceFriday! Thanks BPoD!

12.07.2025 01:03 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Baby Atlantic sharpnose shark after being reeled in and still on the hook

Baby Atlantic sharpnose shark after being reeled in and still on the hook

Close up picture of a juvenile sharpnose shark

Close up picture of a juvenile sharpnose shark

Surprise catch while surf fishing! No baby sharks harmed, was safely released back into the ocean. 🦈

02.07.2025 12:08 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks and thanks for reposting! :)

27.06.2025 23:44 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks Maik! Great suggestion, we’ll have to give that a try! 😊

26.06.2025 18:47 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you!

26.06.2025 18:44 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you!

26.06.2025 18:44 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks so much @carmendemigue12.bsky.social!

26.06.2025 18:43 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks! Lots more to dig into and discover here which is the fun part!

20.06.2025 20:32 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@llobrienlab is following 20 prominent accounts