Rajini Rao

@madamescientist.bsky.social

Scientist, professor, dog mom, gardener and cook. I <3 ion transporters. Director, Graduate Program in Cellular & Molecular Medicine Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine ORCID: 0000-0002-1833-5971

Our latest work linking the Golgi Calcium Pump to actin cytoskeleton defects in Hailey Hailey Disease keratinocytes has been accepted for publication in Am J Physiol-Cell Physiol. 🥳 Big thanks to our team and collaborators at UMich Skin Biol Diseases Res Ctr (UM-SBDRC) for making this happen! 🧪

Cell schematic showing insulin mediating cytoskeleton changes in normal keratinocytes. This signaling is defective in SPCA1 mutants which lack one copy of the Golgi Calcium Pump, modeling the ulcerative skin disorder known as Hailey Hailey Disease. These findings could explain wound healing defects in HHD and the usefulness of insulin in wound healing.

Spanish tostada, a Catalan favorite, on this scorching hot Independence Day. Grate (yes, grate) a cut tomato into a bowl and heap it on a toasted baguette or crusty bread. Sprinkle salt and a generous drizzle of good olive oil. I rubbed a cut garlic clove on the bread right after toasting. #Foodsky

Toasted baguette with grated tomato topping

Most antibodies are rubbish. Western blots are the least productive scientific method and have shown no real advancement for decades. But now, companies charge hundreds of dollars for tiny aliquots of this garbage. 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Science sleuths uncover more than 100 suspicious images in Thermo Fisher antibody catalogue

Scientists have long worried about the reliability of commercial antibodies, and the latest findings have sparked fresh concerns.

nature.com

What a great idea, more of this in the US please! And yes, I was thrilled to see Freddie Mercury flash briefly on the screen. Freddie, born Farrokh Bulsara, had roots in the Parsi community of India that originally fled Iran, and came to the UK by way of Tanzania. #ImmigrationWin #FreddieForEver

Alex Andreou@sturdyalex.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Sneaking a giant screen into the flagshagger march is one of the funniest things @ledbydonkeys.org have ever done. "STAY HYDRATED" 😂🤣😂

Reviewer, review thyself! Not ONE of dozens of rubbish experiments forced on us by unpaid peer reviewers of our current manuscript in revision has made an iota difference to the conclusions. But it HAS wasted 2 months of two postdocs and $$$$$ that we can't afford.

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Join us for a day long workshop on Human Organoids featuring cutting edge science, including our keynote talk by Prof. Dan Huh from U Penn. Registration is required, but free! Zoom link available on request. 🧪

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🧪Our paper titled “The Christianson syndrome protein, sodium hydrogen exchanger isoform 6, is required for fat accumulation" was chosen by J Physiol Editor-in-Chief as the Editor’s Choice! 🥳 This is our 1st paper using a mouse model & venturing into adipocyte biology 😍 Open Access: lnkd.in/eGs6sPds

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🍼 Milk: good for babies… and organoids too? Majood & Rao argue human milk—a living fluid rich in cells, bioactive molecules, & microbiome—could transform lactation biology & contamination research. 💡It's also a vital cell source for the development of 3D mammary #organoid models. 🧪

A dark purple, magenta, and white graphic with the following quote: “"[S]tudies on lactation historically rely heavily on animal models which fail to fully recapitulate human lactation physiology, or on healthy breast tissue that is difficult to obtain, especially during lactation, and has limited scalability. Differences between human and animal models include the number and location of mammary glands, the timing and trajectory of mammary gland development, and the composition of milk." The quote is attributed to the linked paper by Misba Majood & Rajini Rao in Pediatric Research, 2025. On the left, a photo of an infant nursing at their mother’s breast.