Azra Atabay

@azratabye.bsky.social

Marie-Sklodowska Curie PhD fellow in @igflyon.bsky.social @michalis-averof.bsky.social lab interested in early triggers of leg regeneration in 🦐 | Previously Center for Regenerative Therapies @tudresden.bsky.social and Bilkent University

I had the pleasure of talking about my ongoing PhD work as an invited speaker at #EED2026 in Glasgow! It was such a stimulating experience to engage with fellow Eco-Evo-Devo people! Such an amazing crowd, really.

BildBildBild

Finding molecular tags that localise fluorescent proteins to the cell membrane was the goal of our latest paper, now published in Development @dev-journal.bsky.social. The tags act as address labels, sending proteins to the cell membrane, where they highlight the shape and arrangement of cells. 2/9

Targeting the cell membrane in established and emerging model organisms

Summary: Screening a toolkit of diverse membrane-localising tags identifies candidates that efficiently localise proteins to the plasma membrane in a wide range of animals and choanoflagellates.

journals.biologists.com

These images show live embryos of animals (jellyfish, crustacean, worm, sea urchin, sea squirt, beetle) and one of animals closest single-celled relatives. They were captured taking advantage of fluorescent proteins localised on the outer membrane of cells, allowing us to observe cell outlines. 1/9

Bild

In animals with large genomes, finding cis-regulatory elements can be very challenging. Enhancers can be located tens/hundreds of kb away from their target promoters. We face this challenge in Parhyale, with >3 Gbp genome. We just published a preprint describing how we are tackling this problem. /1

biorxiv.org

“A process which led from the amoeba to man appeared to the philosophers to be obviously a progress - though whether the amoeba would agree with this opinion is not known" - Bertrand Russell, 1976. Time-lapse video of Vampyrella lateritia eating Spirogyra algae from Science Source/Oliver Skibbe. 🦠

How can we see the cells that make up a living organism? Membrane-localising tags can drive fluorescent proteins to the cell's outer membrane, making their outlines visible. But the tags don't work well in all organisms. How do you find one for your species of interest? 🧵 Check our latest preprint

A toolkit for testing membrane-localising tags across species

Transgenic markers and tools have revolutionised how we study cells and developing organisms. Some of the elements needed to construct those tools are universally applicable (e.g. fluorescent proteins...

biorxiv.org

📢 We are recruiting! Several projects are available and can be tailored to the candidate's profile. Most include confocal imaging/spatial OMICs technologies. Please share and RT 🙏

Bild

German pianist Davide Martello, who played during the Gezi protests in 2013 and at other demonstrations and sites of conflict and violence around the world, says he was deported from Turkey before a planned performance in Istanbul this week.

Kısa Dalga@kisadalgamedya.bsky.social · last yr.

🔴Kadıköy'de vereceği resital öncesinde piyanosuna el konulan ve gözaltına alınan Gezi'nin piyanisti Davide Martello sınır dışı edildi kisadalga.net/haber/gundem...

Important to note this is much bigger than the mayor. While he was the spark, thousands are in the streets now despite bans clashing with cops due to rampant corruption in the current admin, crumbling economy, soaring unemployment, unlawful arrests… The people are fighting for democracy. #Turkey

Picture taken from Turkish Dictionary to summarize “What’s happening in Türkiye?” 

“İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Türkiye’s strongest opposition candidate for president, has been detained by police.

Yesterday, his university diploma was cancelled, making him unable to run for president.

Protests have been banned for four days. 

The Justice system is used to restrict democratic rights. 

Be our voice. Don’t let democracy be silenced.”

Dear Bluesky community, please spread the word about what is happening in Türkiye and the fight for democracy! Don’t be silent! Your turn will eventually come if you remain silent! We are all going through the same hell!

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2y ago

Turkey arrested Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of Istanbul, the top political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on accusations of corruption and terrorism on Wednesday. Imamoglu was set to be named the opposition’s presidential candidate. nyti.ms/4ho834z

Cannot stop thinking about how Octavia Butler wrote a book in 1993 about climate change. It opens with deadly fires in LA in 2025. In the story, a fascist President has just won office with the campaign slogan "Make America Great Again." She was a modern day Nostradamus. If only we'd listened.

The cover of the book Parable of the Sower.

Looking for a tag to localise fluorescent proteins to the plasma membrane? Unsure which tag might work in your species? We generated a toolkit of 11 membrane-localising tags, which can be screened rapidly by microinjecting mRNA in your species of interest. 1/4 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A toolkit for testing membrane localisation tags across species

Transgenic markers and tools have revolutionised how we study cells and developing organisms. Some of the elements needed to construct those tools are universally applicable (e.g. fluorescent proteins...

biorxiv.org

We’re thrilled to pre-advertise an EMBO Workshop we're organizing, featuring an incredible lineup of speakers! 🎉 Bring your unconventional models and join us in Edinburgh next June for an exciting and inspiring event. Stay tuned for our official poster and website, coming soon! 🧪

Bild