University of Connecticut · Microbiology & ImmunologyCilia Dynamics Lab
Stephen M King · Storrs, Connecticut
Research Focus
Dr. Stephen M. King's lab at the University of Connecticut focuses on the biology of motile cilia, which are tiny hair-like structures that help cells move and communicate. They conduct research using the green alga Chlamydomonas to understand how cilia are formed, how they beat, and how they release signals that affect other cells. The lab aims to discover new mechanisms involved in ciliary movement and the role of peptide signals in cell interactions, which are important for proper human development and health.
ciliaciliary motilitycell communicationChlamydomonasdyneinciliogenesispeptide signalingbioactive ectosomeschemical modulation
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the assembly and regulation of dynein motors in cilia to understand motility.
AIM 02Examine how changes in calcium and redox state affect ciliary beating.
AIM 03Identify new amidated products generated by PAM in ciliary assembly and communication.
AIM 04Study how ectosomes derived from cilia can influence chemotactic signaling.
AIM 05Explore pathways leading to regulated release of bioactive signals in cilia.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturebiochemical fractionationmolecular genetic techniquesmicroscopysignal transduction analysisprotein purificationpeptide analysisbiochemical assaysgenetic manipulation of Chlamydomonas
Output against the department
Publications244top 24% of dept.117th of 486
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations10ktop 35% of dept.169th of 486
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.