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Chike Cao, Ph.D.

Chike Cao, Ph.D.

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About Me

Dr. Chike Cao joined the Center for Musculoskeletal Research, Department of Othoepadics at University of Rochester Medical Center in September of 2020. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Biological Education from Huazhong Normal University in China. She received her Master’s degree at University of...
Dr. Chike Cao joined the Center for Musculoskeletal Research, Department of Othoepadics at University of Rochester Medical Center in September of 2020. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Biological Education from Huazhong Normal University in China. She received her Master’s degree at University of Arkansas in Dr. Michael Lehmann’s laboratory studying program cell death in Drosophila. She obtained her doctoral degree at New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University in Dr. Tibor Rohacs’s lab focusing on TRP Ca2+ channel regulation. Dr. Cao worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Mayo Clinic under the mentorship of Dr. Gianrico Farrugia studying Ano1 chloride channel in ICCs and Duke University under the mentorship of Dr. Geoffrey Pitt and Dr. Matthew Hilton investigating CaV1.2 L-type Ca2+ channel for bone formation. She then joined the faculty as an instructor in Dr. Geoffrey Pitt’s lab at Weill Cornell Medicine, collaborating with Dr. Christopher Mendias and Dr. Scott Rodeo to study the function of CaV1.2 in tendon formation.

Faculty Appointments

Assistant Professor - Department of Orthopaedics, Center for Musculoskeletal Research (SMD)

Assistant Professor - Department of Pharmacology and Physiology (SMD) - Joint

Credentials

Awards

NIH NIAMS R21. 2020

Alice L. Jee Young Investigator Award. 2019

Harold M. Frost Young Investigator Award. 2017

Travel Award. 2016 - 2017

Research

Dr. Cao’s research focuses on understanding the physiological and pathophysiological contribution of CaV1.2 Ca2+ channel, its activation mechanisms and the molecular basis of Ca2+-dependent cellular processes during non-excitable musculoskeletal tissue (such as bone and tendon) development, postnata...
Dr. Cao’s research focuses on understanding the physiological and pathophysiological contribution of CaV1.2 Ca2+ channel, its activation mechanisms and the molecular basis of Ca2+-dependent cellular processes during non-excitable musculoskeletal tissue (such as bone and tendon) development, postnatal growth and their repair/regeneration upon injury. The long-term goal of her research program aims to translate their findings related to Ca2+ channel and Ca2+ signaling in basic bone and tendon biology to clinical trials in patients to help prevent and treat musculoskeletal diseases such as osteoporosis, tendinopathies, and heterotopic ossification in soft tissues. Her approach utilizes genetic mouse models, primary cell culture systems, pharmacological approaches, next-generation sequencing techniques, multiphoton Ca2+ imaging to define the molecular mechanisms and signaling cascades up/downstream of CaV1.2 in bone and tendon formation.

Publications

Journal Articles

Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels in Nonexcitable Tissues.

Pitt GS, Matsui M, Cao C

Annual review of physiology.. 2021 February 1083 :183-203. Epub 10/26/2020.

The Ca1.2 L-type calcium channel regulates bone homeostasis in the middle and inner ear.

Cao C, Oswald AB, Fabella BA, Ren Y, Rodriguiz R, Trainor G, Greenblatt MB, Hilton MJ, Pitt GS

Bone.. 2019 August 125 :160-168. Epub 05/20/2019.

Increased Ca2+ signaling through CaV1.2 promotes bone formation and prevents estrogen deficiency-induced bone loss.

Cao C, Ren Y, Barnett AS, Mirando AJ, Rouse D, Mun SH, Park-Min KH, McNulty AL, Guilak F, Karner CM, Hilton MJ, Pitt GS

JCI insight.. 2017 November 162 (22)Epub 11/16/2017.

Oxytocin Modulates Nociception as an Agonist of Pain-Sensing TRPV1.

Nersesyan Y, Demirkhanyan L, Cabezas-Bratesco D, Oakes V, Kusuda R, Dawson T, Sun X, Cao C, Cohen AM, Chelluboina B, Veeravalli KK, Zimmermann K, Domene C, Brauchi S, Zakharian E

Cell reports.. 2017 November 721 (6):1681-1691. Epub 1900 01 01.

Conditional genetic deletion of Ano1 in interstitial cells of Cajal impairs Ca transients and slow waves in adult mouse small intestine.

Malysz J, Gibbons SJ, Saravanaperumal SA, Du P, Eisenman ST, Cao C, Oh U, Saur D, Klein S, Ordog T, Farrugia G

American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology.. 2017 March 1312 (3):G228-G245. Epub 12/15/2016.

Ano1, a Ca2+-activated Cl- channel, coordinates contractility in mouse intestine by Ca2+ transient coordination between interstitial cells of Cajal.

Singh RD, Gibbons SJ, Saravanaperumal SA, Du P, Hennig GW, Eisenman ST, Mazzone A, Hayashi Y, Cao C, Stoltz GJ, Ordog T, Rock JR, Harfe BD, Szurszewski JH, Farrugia G

The Journal of physiology.. 2014 September 15592 (18):4051-68. Epub 07/25/2014.

Polyester modification of the mammalian TRPM8 channel protein: implications for structure and function.

Cao C, Yudin Y, Bikard Y, Chen W, Liu T, Li H, Jendrossek D, Cohen A, Pavlov E, Rohacs T, Zakharian E

Cell reports.. 2013 July 254 (2):302-315. Epub 07/11/2013.

Interplay between calmodulin and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate in Ca2+-induced inactivation of transient receptor potential vanilloid 6 channels.

Cao C, Zakharian E, Borbiro I, Rohacs T

The Journal of biological chemistry.. 2013 February 22288 (8):5278-90. Epub 01/08/2013.

Decrease in phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate levels mediates desensitization of the cold sensor TRPM8 channels.

Yudin Y, Lukacs V, Cao C, Rohacs T

The Journal of physiology.. 2011 December 15589 (Pt 24):6007-27. Epub 10/17/2011.

Intracellular ATP supports TRPV6 activity via lipid kinases and the generation of PtdIns(4,5) P?.

Zakharian E, Cao C, Rohacs T

FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.. 2011 November 25 (11):3915-28. Epub 08/02/2011.

Gating of transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8) channels activated by cold and chemical agonists in planar lipid bilayers.

Zakharian E, Cao C, Rohacs T

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.. 2010 September 1530 (37):12526-34. Epub 1900 01 01.

RNA editing of the serotonin 2C receptor and expression of Galpha(q) protein: genetic mouse models do not support a role for regulation or compensation.

Canal CE, Mahautmr KC, Cao C, Sanders-Bush E, Airey DC

Journal of neurochemistry.. 2009 March 108 (5):1136-42. Epub 01/20/2009.

Fork head controls the timing and tissue selectivity of steroid-induced developmental cell death.

Cao C, Liu Y, Lehmann M

The Journal of cell biology.. 2007 March 12176 (6):843-52. Epub 03/05/2007.

Lack of association between the HindIII RFLP of the osteocalcin (BGP) gene and bone mineral density (BMD) in healthy pre- and postmenopausal Chinese women.

Mo XY, Cao CK, Xu FH, Liu MY, Li MX, Qin YJ, Zhou Q, Zhang YY, Deng HW

Journal of bone and mineral metabolism.. 2004 22 (3):264-9. Epub 1900 01 01.