Eno E. Ebong

About

Joined Northeastern University in Fall 2013.

Directs the “Ebong Mechanobiology Laboratory”, where research currently focuses on studying how the mechanical forces of blood flow and tissue stiffness affect endothelial cells, which line the blood vessels and guard them from dysfunction that leads to diseases like atherosclerosis, cancer metastasis, and neurodegeneration. Much of the research focus is on studying the structure and function of the protective gel-like layer of sugar molecules and proteins coating the surface of the endothelial cells—called the glycocalyx—to understand, on a molecular level, how mechanobiology remodels the endothelial cells to facilitate protection from disease. This glycocalyx structure gives endothelial cells the resilience they need to withstand the raucous mechanical environment that they are subjected to, especially due to dynamic blood flows at the vessel branch points. Glycocalyx sheds in the presence of disease, so it is of great interest to study how gradual glycocalyx degradation initiates and promotes pathology. The “Ebong Mechanobiology Laboratory” constructs in vitro fluid-solid systems comprised of endothelial cells co-cultured with support cells, to replicate both healthy and disruptive conditions and to uncover the intricacies of the mechanics-glycocalyx-endothelial cell relationship. This work is combined with live animal studies to assess the validity of the findings, in real disease conditions. Other approaches include biomaterials, state-of-the-art electron microscopy (mainly rapid freezing/freeze substitution preservation and transmission electron microscopy), advanced biological imaging of cells and animals, RNA interference techniques, fluorescent intracellular biomarkers, protein biochemistry, and more. Our discoveries are being applied to the development of therapies and nanomedicine-based drug delivery tools that target mechanobiology, endothelial cells, and the glycocalyx to prevent and/or reverse disease.

Selected Publications

• Xu, Suowen, Ilyas, Iqra, Little, Peter J., Li, Hong, Kamato, Danielle, Zheng, Xueying, Luo, Sihui, Li, Zhuoming, Liu, Peiqing, Han, Jihong, Harding, Ian C., Ebong, Eno E., Cameron, Scott J., Stewart, Alastair G., Weng, Jianping. (2021). Endothelial Dysfunction in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases and Beyond: From Mechanism to Pharmacotherapies. Pharmacological Reviews. 73(3):924-967. 10.1124/pharmrev.120.000096
• Nian, Keqing, Harding, Ian C., Herman, Ira M., Ebong, Eno E. (2021). Blood-Brain Barrier Damage in Ischemic Stroke and Its Regulation by Endothelial Mechanotransduction. Frontiers in Physiology, 1:605398. 10.3389/fphys.2020.605398
• Nian, Keqing, Harding, Ian C., Herman, Ira M., Ebong, Eno E. (2021). Blood-Brain Barrier Damage in Ischemic Stroke and Its Regulation by Endothelial Mechanotransduction. Frontiers in Physiology, 1:605398. 10.3389/fphys.2020.605398
• Mensah, Solomon A., Nersesyan, Alina, Harding, Ian C., Lee, Claire I., Tan, Xuefei, Banerjee, Selina, Niedre, Mark J.,Torchilin, Vladimir P., Ebong, Eno E. (2020). Flow-Regulated Endothelial Glycocalyx Determines Metastatic Cancer Cell Activity. FASEB Journal: official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. 34(5): 6166-6184. 10.1096/fj.201901920R
• Cheng, Ming J., Mitra, Ronodeep, Okorafor, Chinedu C., Nersesyan, Alina A., Harding, Ian C., Bal, Nandita N., Kumar, Rajiv, Sridhar, Srinivaas, Ebong, Eno E. (2020). Targeted Intravenous Nanoparticle Delivery: Role of Flow and Endothelial Glycocalyx Integrity. Annals Biomedical Engineering. 48(7): 1941-1954. 10.1007/s10439-020-02474-4
• Cai, Xuezhu, Qiao, Ju, Kulkarni, Praveen, Harding, Ian C., Ebong, Eno, Ferris, Craig F. (2020). Imaging the effect of the circadian light-dark cycle on the glymphatic system in awake rats. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 117 (1): 668-676. 10.1073/pnas.1914017117

Graduate

Jul 24, 2024

PhD Spotlight: Shicheng Yang, PhD’24, Chemical Engineering

Shicheng Yang, PhD’24, chemical engineering, focused research on innovative drug delivery systems, including polymeric implants and lipid nanoparticles, for cancer treatment. He was named an inventor on “Processes for Nanoformulation of Molecular Inhibitors and Chemotherapeutics.”

Faculty

Mar 25, 2024

Three Faculty Selected as AIMBE Fellows

Bouvé/ChE University Distinguished Professor Mansoor Amiji, ChE/BioE Associate Professor Eno Ebong, and ECE/Khoury Professor Yun Raymond Fu were selected as Class of 2024 Fellows for the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Faculty

Feb 01, 2024

Faculty and Staff Awards 2024

The College of Engineering recognized faculty and staff at the annual faculty and staff awards event and thanked everyone for their hard work and dedication in support of our students, college, and university during the 2023-2024 academic year. View award recipients and photo gallery.

PhD

Jan 31, 2024

ChE PhD Student Receives 2024 AHA Predoctoral Fellowship

ChE PhD candidate Nicholas O’Hare, who works in the lab of ChE/BioE Associate Professor Eno Ebong and works as a CommLab Fellow, was selected by the American Heart Association to receive a Predoctoral Fellowship for his project “The Role of the Endothelial Glycocalyx in Alzheimer’s Disease Neurovascular Pathology.”

Faculty

Sep 28, 2023

Novel Research To Address Atherosclerosis

ChE/BioE Associate Professor Eno Ebong is developing a novel therapeutic that targets the glycocalyx to prevent atherosclerosis, a cardiovascular disease that can lead to secondary cardiovascular events such as strokes or heart attacks. She received a Spark Fund award from the Center for Research Innovation at Northeastern for this work.

Faculty

Jul 20, 2023

Spring 2023 Spark Fund Awardees

MIE Associate Professor Randal Erb, ChE/BioE Associate Professor Eno Ebong, ChE Professor Rebecca Carrier, and MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng are recipients of the Spring 2023 Spark Fund Awards from Northeastern’s Center for Research Innovation.

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