University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · PhysiologyCell Motility Research Lab
James E Bear · Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Research Focus
Dr. James E. Bear's lab at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill focuses on understanding how cells move by studying the actin cytoskeleton. The research aims to uncover how cells react to their environments and direct their movement, which is important for processes like wound healing and cancer metastasis. By using innovative techniques like conditional knockout mouse models and optogenetics, the lab seeks to unravel the complexities of cell motility at a molecular level.
cell motilityactin cytoskeletondirected migrationcell adhesionoptogeneticswound healingcancer metastasisproteomicsmolecular perturbations
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate how cell adhesion influences actin regulation.
AIM 02Study the interaction between branched and non-branched actin during cell motility.
AIM 03Develop optotaxis assays to understand how light gradients affect cell movement.
AIM 04Explore the role of tyrosine kinase pathways in clathrin-mediated endocytosis during migration.
AIM 05Analyze how substrate properties affect cell migration and actin architecture.
Skills the Lab Values
conditional knockout miceoptogeneticscell culturemicroscopyimage analysismolecular assaysproteomicscell migration assaysbiochemical assays
Output against the department
Publications201top 32% of dept.92nd of 286
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations12ktop 26% of dept.74th of 286
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.