Join us in Sheffield! The DRN Research Cluster is looking to recruit new Independent Research Fellows. Contact the cluster lead, Dr Matt Towers, if you are interested!

Thrilled to see our study out in Science Advances 🔥 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A Wnt-induced conformational phospho-switch in DVL3 controls association with Frizzled receptors and Wnt/β-catenin signaling

A threshold-based phospho-switch of DVL mediates Wnt signaling and rationalizes DVL’s domain architecture.

science.org

Bryjalab@bryjalab.bsky.social · last yr.

Excited to share our new preprint on bioRxiv. 🎉 We uncovered a Wnt-induced phospho-switch of Dishevelled. This intramolecular coupling is mutually exclusive with FZD engagement and functionally required for the Wnt/β-catenin signaling. 🧵 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Please do get in touch is you want to join our molecular and cellular biology community. Also look at out Development, Regeneration and Neurophysiology cluster, if that's a better fit: sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/... We of course welcome people (like me!) that straddle the two

@mcb-sheffield.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Join us in Sheffield! We are keen to support early career researchers in applying for independent research fellowships to join our friendly & collaborative environment, in areas related to gene expression, mechanistic cell biology & cancer biology. For more info 👇 sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/...

Join us in Sheffield! We are keen to support early career researchers in applying for independent research fellowships to join our friendly & collaborative environment, in areas related to gene expression, mechanistic cell biology & cancer biology. For more info 👇 sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/...

Next Monday, 3rd Feb at 2:30 pm, we are welcoming Prof. David Strutt from the University of Sheffield. This talk will be in person at PDN. Please come and join us if you are around Cambridge! Looking forward to seeing you soon👋

It's taken a while but final version of Alex's manuscript now out in eLife. We're proud of it – it was a difficult project with hard assays. Even the eLife editor admits it's 'useful' – and I'm not sure how often you see a genuinely useful paper these days?! elifesciences.org/articles/107...

Characterisation of cell-scale signalling by the core planar polarity pathway during Drosophila wing development

Quantitative Drosophila pupal wing experiments support planar polarity depending on cell-scale signalling that does not involve depletion of a limited pool of core proteins or polarised transport on microtubules.

elifesciences.org

David Strutt@struttlab.bsky.social · 2y ago

Our latest on planar polarity mechanisms. Painstaking work by Alexandre Carayon, investigating mechanisms of cell-scale polarisation in the fly wing. Enjoy it (if this is your thing)!

Join us in Sheffield! We are keen to support early career researchers in applying for independent research fellowships (IRFs) to join our friendly and collaborative environment, in areas related to developmental biology, stem cells and regenerative biology, and neuroscience.

Fat cadherin cleavage releases a transcriptionally active nuclear fragment to regulate target gene expression. New preprint from Helen McNeill and colleagues doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Fat cadherin cleavage releases a transcriptionally active nuclear fragment to regulate target gene expression

The conserved atypical cadherin fat (ft) controls cellular processes such as growth, planar cell polarity, and mitochondrial function, in organisms ranging from fruit flies to mammals. Working at the ...

doi.org

Job Alert 🔊🔊 Looking for your first or next Postdoc position? Then don't look further, apply to this opportunity to join our lab to tackle the next big challenges in the Wnt signalling field. Experience in protein biochemistry and in vitro cell biology is essential for this post tinyurl.com/2p9rndfy

My first post on Bluesky! Very excited to share our work just published in @science.org. We find that “Interphase cell morphology defines the mode, symmetry, and outcome of mitosis” - in angiogenesis and other tissues! www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1... www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Interphase cell morphology defines the mode, symmetry, and outcome of mitosis

During tissue formation, dynamic cell shape changes drive morphogenesis while asymmetric divisions create cellular diversity. We found that the shifts in cell morphology that shape tissues could conco...

science.org

Development folks: the next Northern England Developmental Biology @bsdb.bsky.social @biologists.bsky.social meeting will take place on the 10th of July in Sheffield. Great speaker line-up, cheap registration fee and plenty of slots for ECR talks. Registration deadline=31/5, see poster for details

New! 15y after the classic Aigouy et al "Cell Flow Reorients the Axis of Planar Polarity in the Wing Epithelium..." from lab of much missed Suzanne Eaton, we provide our take from post-doc Sara Tan "Tissue shear as a cue for aligning planar polarity in the developing Drosophila wing". rdcu.be/d81Vn

Now that my lab has moved to Emory I want you to join us in Atlanta. We have an NIH-funded postdoc position available to study Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) signaling using vestibular hair cells of the mouse as a model. Please repost and/or DM for details

My quote of the day (or possibly the week/month/year): ‘Building organisms is about bringing #SelfOrganization under control’ I’m going to borrow this to use in my talks

Alfonso Martinez Arias@amartinezarias.bsky.social · 2y ago

First. The potential of a gene on its own is bigger than what is revealed by its loss of function. Two. Don’t be fooled by deterministic genetic control. Underneath there is a capacity for #SelfOrganization which is the essence of biological systems. Building organisms is @ bringing SO under control

Drosophila cell culture people: we've been using Qiagen Effectene to transfect S2 cells with ~30% efficiency, but latest batch is only giving us <1% efficiency (so no use to us!!). Qiagen don't seem to have a solution. Anyone got suggestions for other (good!) fly cell culture transfection reagents?

A little pre-Christmas reading for my planar polarity follower(s) – I’m sure there’s at least one of you! The Fat-Dachsous planar polarity pathway competes with hinge contraction to orient polarized cell behaviors during Drosophila wing morphogenesis. Current Biology doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

The Fat-Dachsous planar polarity pathway competes with hinge contraction to orient polarized cell behaviors during Drosophila wing morphogenesis

Morphogenesis involves interactions between biochemical and mechanical cues. Trinidad et al. show that during Drosophila pupal wing morphogenesis, Fat-Dachsous planar polarity competes with tissue tension to control oriented cell behaviors. Moreover, junctional tension stabilizes Fat-Dachsous, supporting the existence of biomechanical feedback.

cell.com

Dodged that pre- Christmas bullet. Mycoplasma, not Covid.

Please spread the word! We are looking for postdoc(s) interested in quantitative problems in Development and Regeneration. Previous experience in quantitative biology is not required. We will support you and provide a great training environment if you are committed to learn new things.

Only 3 days left to apply! Postdoc positions available in the Röper lab at the University of Cambridge! @PDN_Cambridge Discover the role that supracellular cytoskeletal assemblies and crosstalk play in sculpting organs in Drosophila or human organoids in culture! Links below!

Morphogenesis alert! Stoked for our new paper with the inimitable @shinuoweng.bsky.social! See her Skeetorial (👇) about the work in @currentbiology.bsky.social exploring the coupling of subcellular and tissue-level forces during convergent extension. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Planar polarized force propagation integrates cell behavior with tissue shaping during convergent extension

Convergent extension (CE) is an evolutionarily conserved developmental process that elongates tissues and organs via collective cell movements known a…

sciencedirect.com

Shinuo Weng@shinuoweng.bsky.social · 2y ago

To mark Black Friday, we are excited to share our latest work, "Planar polarized force propagation integrates cell behavior with tissue shaping during convergent extension." Now online in Current Biology. authors.elsevier.com/a/1kATd3QW8S...

Are you an early career researcher in the Wnt field and at a career stage where you hope to make a transition to start your independent research group? Then this your opportunity! We have an invited ECR speaker slot at the upcoming Oxford WntUK 2025 meeting!! Details below 👇👇

The 2nd WntUK meeting will be held at @WorcCollegeOx @UniofOxford on Monday 24th March 2025. Registration and abstract submission opens soon. Wnt researchers of all levels and disciplines welcome from the UK and beyond!

a budweiser light is lit up on a counter

ALT: a budweiser light is lit up on a counter

media.tenor.com

Postdoc position available in the Röper lab at the University of Cambridge @PDN_Cambridge! Join us and discover the role that control of cytoskeletal dynamics, crosstalk and cell adhesion play in the formation of the nephron tube in human renal organoids! jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/48947/

📢We have a 3y postdoc position available in our interdisciplinary team at the Institut Curie. Join us if you're interested in epithelial tissue morphogenesis using live imaging, quantitative biology & (opto)genetics. institut-curie.org/team/bellaiche Please spread the word.

Our latest on planar polarity mechanisms. Painstaking work by Alexandre Carayon, investigating mechanisms of cell-scale polarisation in the fly wing. Enjoy it (if this is your thing)!

bioRxiv Developmental Biology@biorxiv-devbio.bsky.social · 2y ago

Evidence for strong cell-scale signalling during planar polarisation in the Drosophila wing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.14.618159v1

Evidence for strong cell-scale signalling during planar polarisation in the Drosophila wing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.14.618159v1

Evidence for strong cell-scale signalling during planar polarisation in the Drosophila wing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.14.618159v1

In developing epithelia, cells become planar polarised with asymmetric localisation of the core plan

biorxiv.org

Rho/Rok-dependent regulation of actomyosin contractility at tricellular junctions controls epithelial permeability in Drosophila https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.04.616625v1

Rho/Rok-dependent regulation of actomyosin contractility at tricellular junctions controls epithelial permeability in Drosophila https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.04.616625v1

Cell contacts in epithelia are remodeled to regulate paracellular permeability and to control passag

biorxiv.org

Linked article is facinating but chilling. Nightmarish…

Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽@needhibhalla.bsky.social · 2y ago

“It didn’t have to be this way,” she remembers thinking. “There are so many interesting things to discover in biology. You don’t have to make things up.” 🧪

For my planar polarity follower(s?), we have a new paper out on Fat-Dachsous. Fat-Dachsous are known to interact (signal?) in trans between cells, but we now find a second (more important!) trans-interaction suggesting new models for Fat-Dachsous clustering www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We´re hiring! 2-year postdoc position opening in my lab at the Multiscale Imaging Center, University of Münster, to work on membrane trafficking and epithelial tissue dynamics in Drosophila. For details, please see shorturl.at/auBW4 and apply by Feb 29th.