Nicholas Bellono

Nicholas Bellono

Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology

2021 Biological Laboratories

16 Divinity Ave

Cambridge MA 02138

Tel: 617-496-0713

Email: nbellono@harvard.edu

Lab website: https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/bellonolab/home

Research Summary:

Our lab is interested in how organisms detect salient external or internal environmental signals based on their ecological or behavioral niche. We emphasize a curiosity-based approach in which specialized, unconventional systems are exploited to reveal fundamental concepts of cellular signal transduction, protein biophysics, and evolution. We then aim to understand how these molecular mechanisms impact organismal physiology and behavior.

Publications:

van Giesen L, Kilian PB, Allard CAH, Bellono NW (2020) Molecular basis of chemotactile sensation in octopus. In press, Cell. NIHMS ID: 1627332Weir K,

Dupre C, van Giesen L, Lee ASY, Bellono NW (2020) A molecular filter for the cnidarian stinging response. eLife 9:e57578. PMID: 32452384

Bellono NW*, Leitch DB*, Julius D (2017) Molecular basis of ancestral vertebrate electroreception. Nature 6;543(7645): 391-396. PMCID: PMC5354974.