Nathan Tykocki , PhD

Biography

My research focuses on urinary bladder physiology, with specific emphasis on the bladder afferent nerves and the bladder vasculature as major regulators of bladder function. Presently, my work discovered that (1) transient contractions of the bladder wall generate bursts of afferent nerve activity that dominate sensory outflow from the bladder; (2) the vasculature of the urinary bladder, due to the unique physiological demands it experiences during bladder filling, possesses distinct contractile properties versus other vessels of similar size; and (3) social stress alone is sufficient to cause progressive bladder dysfunction that moves from overactivity to underactivity as stress duration/intensity increases. We employ a multi-disciplinary approach, including biochemical, pharmacological, physiological and genetic tools, to understand how the bladder muscle, nerves, vasculature and urothelium communicate to impact bladder function in health and disease. My scientific training explored vascular smooth muscle biology, physiology and pharmacology, specifically in terms of calcium signaling pathways as regulators of smooth muscle contractility. My fields of expertise include in vivo physiology, myography, receptor pharmacology, confocal microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, calcium imaging, immunofluorescence, and instrumentation design/fabrication.