I'm excited to see @dev-journal.bsky.social's #DevSIextracellular take shape with articles like this one. The special issue will be completed soon. A big thanks to @hugheslabpenn.bsky.social & @rashmi-priya.bsky.social for their contributions as Guest Editors. Browse the Table of Contents so far:

Volume 153 Issue 16 | Development | The Company of Biologists

Development is the leading community journal in developmental biology, publishing research and reviews across the spectrum of animal and plant developmental biology.

journals.biologists.com

Raphaël Clément@raphclement.bsky.social · 3d ago

A developmental biologist's guide to mechanics, just out in Development! In which we learn about the three pillars of any mechanical model: forces, mechanical properties, and boundary conditions. @pflenne.bsky.social @alessandrochppr.bsky.social @caojialing1002.bsky.social @dev-journal.bsky.social

🧵 What if one reason fertility declines with age isn’t just genetic-but mechanical? Thrilled to share our new paper in @NatureCellBio : Elevated contractility drives implantation failure in mouse embryos from aged females… here’s what we found 👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/11

Elevated contractility drives implantation failure in mouse embryos from aged females - Nature Cell Biology

Cavanaugh et al. show that embryos from aged mice have increased contractility and tissue viscosity on embryonic day 4.5, which leads to poor spreading and attachment. Similar age-associated mechanica...

nature.com

New paper from the lab! authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S... We find that protein degradation is broadly slower in human segmentation clock cells than in mouse cells, regardless of the degradation pathway or protein category! 1/

Systematic differences in protein stability underlie species-specific developmental tempo

Human embryonic development proceeds more slowly than in mice. The segmentation clock offers a tractable model for studying species-specific developme…

authors.elsevier.com

Good to see this out Mouse neural progenitors degrade proteins faster than human, driven by higher proteasome activity Increasing IRX3 turn over speeds OLIG2 induction, implicates protein stability in developmental tempo Great work by @trayon.bsky.social & co authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

Proteasome-dependent protein degradation shapes developmental tempo in mouse and human neural progenitors

The pace of embryonic development differs between mammalian species, yet the molecular basis for this remains unknown. By comparing protein dynamics i…

authors.elsevier.com

Thrilled to share that our paper is now out in Cell Stem Cell!🧬 We generated spermatogonia from human and non-human primate pluripotent stem cells, opening new avenues for studying human germ cell biology and in vitro gametogenesis. www.nature.com/articles/d41... www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce...

Generation of spermatogonia from human and non-human primate pluripotent stem cells

Sasaki and colleagues generate human and macaque male germ cells up to meiotic onset, including prepachytene piRNA-expressing spermatogonia, from induced pluripotent stem cells. These cells self-organ...

cell.com

Hey friends, we're hiring over here at Princeton Bioengineering! In addition to the usual positions (faculty, grad students, postdocs), BioE is looking for a Program Manager to help oversee big multi-PI projects (e.g. DARPA, ARPA-H). Pass along & apply if interested! apply.interfolio.com/187973

Congrats to Hughes lab PhD student Ronald Canlla and all other ASN KidneyCure Fellowship/Grant recipients! Ronald's work is achieving remote control over epithelial morphogenesis using light, focusing on the kidney's ureteric bud. www.kidneycure.org/pages/qa.aspx

Pre-existing cell states predict resistance to multiple treatments ft. Dylan Schaff (@pennengineering.bsky.social), Phoebe White, Aria Fasse (SAS), Christopher Cote, @sydshaffer.bsky.social (@pennpathlabmed.bsky.social) & @nancyrzhang.bsky.social (Wharton) www.clinicalkey.com#!/content/pl...

Our latest work on shape-programmable tissues is out in @science.org. By positioning topological defects in cellular nematics, we encode frustrated 2D force fields that relax into predictable 3D shapes. Collaboration with Marino Arroyo’s lab, led by @pauguillamat.bsky.social at @ibecbarcelona.eu.

@lsprahl.bsky.social and Ronald Canlla in the lab just published a detailed study on remote-controlled epithelial budding morphogenesis. We can direct budding, tubule elongation, and perhaps branching in human kidney organoids via a light-activated RET receptor. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

New preprint from the lab! How do tissue shapes influence cell fate decisions? By manipulating brain organoid geometry, we show that lumen rounding directs apical progenitor division mode and promotes the emergence of basal progenitors. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/

organs develop in a dynamic environment where their boundaries are constantly changing shape, relaxing, compressing, etc. in synchrony with the embryo. see how this inspired us to create a material for optimal organoid bioprinting & self-organization! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Stress-relaxing granular bioprinting materials enable complex and uniform organoid self-organization - Nature Materials

A tunable granular biomaterial matrix is developed to support long-term bioprinting. Stress relaxation at high strains and long timescales is shown to be important for tissue self-organization in inte...

nature.com

Thrilled to share our new paper in Cell Stem Cell! 🧬 We generated stem cell–derived human adrenal tissue with functional zonation, recapitulating key aspects of the adrenal cortex’s 3D architecture and steroidogenic activity. www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce... Kudos to the entire team!

Glomerular basement membrane (GBM) structural integrity dictates trans-tissu... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Really proud of this Cell Reports paper showing that the potentially pathogenic laminin alpha2 in the Alport GBM comes not from glomerular cells, but from the bloodstream.

Glomerular basement membrane structural integrity dictates trans-tissue deposition of laminin in the kidney

Basement membranes (BMs) are specialized extracellular matrices (ECMs) essential for tissue structure and function. In non-vertebrates, ECM components…

sciencedirect.com

Developmentally inspired synthetic kidney engineering - @hugheslabpenn.bsky.social @pennengineering.bsky.social go.nature.com/46tacJq

Developmentally inspired synthetic kidney engineering - Nature Biotechnology

Hughes and colleagues present a developmentally inspired tissue engineering strategy to overcome barriers in kidney tissue generation, enhancing prospects for renal replacement therapies.

go.nature.com

Check out our new @natbiotech.nature.com review on how to build kidneys & other epithelial organs using principles from embryonic development. Led by Emma Warrner and @azyhuang.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/s41... rdcu.be/e3fy0

Developmentally inspired synthetic kidney engineering

Nature Biotechnology - Hughes and colleagues present a developmentally inspired tissue engineering strategy to overcome barriers in kidney tissue generation, enhancing prospects for renal...

rdcu.be

Submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – The Extracellular Environment in Development, Regeneration and Stem Cells Guest Editors: Alex Hughes (@hugheslabpenn.bsky.social) & Rashmi Priya (@rashmi-priya.bsky.social) Deadline: 1 March 2026 journals.biologists.com/dev/pages/ex...

Now in print at ACS Synbio! Introducing Aviatar: a concept for inducible translocation to any cell compartment using only a 1-component probe pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Optogenetic Translocation to Subcellular Compartments through Regulation of Protein Avidity

Inducible translocation to subcellular compartments is a common strategy for protein switches that control a variety of cell behaviors. However, existing switches achieve translocation through induced...

pubs.acs.org

Lukasz Bugaj@bugajlab.bsky.social · last yr.

Proteins often bind targets using avidity, the combined interaction strength of multiple weak binders. Now we’ve harnessed this principle for compact, *single*-component optogenetic tools for translocation. Lead by phenom PhD student @dennishuang.bsky.social #synbiosky🧵 📝 tinyurl.com/aviatar

Speaker lineup posted for FASEB: Dynamics and Encoding in Cell Signaling (June 2026)! Live-cell imaging, biosensors, signal dynamics, and quant. modeling/analysis, across the biosciences. Stellar lineup, Keynotes from Tobias Meyer and Jin Zhang Join us in Nashville! tinyurl.com/bd9wmyve

If you are considering where to publish new research on extracellular/non-autonomous/geometric/physical cause and effect in development, consider our @dev-journal.bsky.social special issue, with @rashmi-priya.bsky.social!

Development@dev-journal.bsky.social · 8mo ago

We welcome submissions to our upcoming special issue on the extracellular environment, guest edited by @hugheslabpenn.bsky.social and @rashmi-priya.bsky.social. Send your #devbio, #regeneration and #stemcell papers by 1 March 2026. For more information, see journals.biologists.com/dev/pages/ex...

Meeting Alert! Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting! 👇 @socdevbio.bsky.social @insdb.bsky.social @bscb-official.bsky.social @isdb.bsky.social @bsdb.bsky.social @ascbiology.bsky.social

John Wallingford@jbwallingford.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The 2026 Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting website is LIVE!!! Go see the incredible list of scientists who will be speaking at the meeting next summer! (...and check the site early next year for info on registration and abstract submission.) scdb2026.sites.ucsc.edu

A new paper out in @natmethods.nature.com introduces NimbusImage, a cloud-computing platform for image analysis ft. William Niu (SAS), Jingxin Li (@cambupenn.bsky.social), @aofarrell.bsky.social (Bioengineering) & @arjunraj.bsky.social (@penngenetics.bsky.social) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🚨Preprint 2/2: Several studies implicate condensates in RTK fusion onco-signaling. So we were surprised to find that condensates are entirely dispensable😮(!). A study from proteins to mice, by dynamic duo @davidgonzmar.bsky.social and @trmumford.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 👇

🚨New preprint(1/2)! We show that RTK fusion oncoproteins broadly suppress EGFR signaling. How? Sequestration of adapters as the shared principle. Led by superb PhD student Carol Gao. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Implications for drug tolerance/resistance, and includes one big surprise🫧.👇

🚨Publication update🚨 DEC1 regulates human β cell functional maturation and circadian rhythm: Cell Reports www.cell.com/cell-reports...

DEC1 regulates human β cell functional maturation and circadian rhythm

Preza et al. show that DEC1, a circadian clock regulator, promotes mature insulin responses to glucose stimulation in human stem cell-derived islet organoids. DEC1 is restricted to maturing β cells, w...

cell.com

*New preprint alert* uncovering a mechanical pacemaker that synchronizes nephron formation with branching of the kidney's epithelial tubule tree. Read below to learn about this twisty journey lead by Sam Grindel and Sachin Davis in the lab. [Movie by Nils Lindstrom] www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Very excited to see our paper, led by @amilangscience.bsky.social, out today in @pnas.org! This one was a true adventure, filled with surprises at every turn. “Erythroid precursors regulate local oxygen tension and repair outcomes in the bone marrow niche.” www.pnas.org/eprint/NJ8XC...

Erythroid precursors regulate local oxygen tension and repair outcomes in the bone marrow niche | PNAS

Oxygen tension dynamically regulates stem cell fate and tissue regeneration, yet how local oxygen availability is controlled within the bone marrow...

pnas.org

Stop by to see our posters at #CellBio2025, including plenty of unpublished new directions!

Louis Prahl@lsprahl.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Taking advantage of #CellBio2025 returning to Philly this year. Plenty of cool kidney and kidney-adjacent projects to share from @hugheslabpenn.bsky.social! Ronald Canlla is presenting our collaborative #optogenetics and #organoids work on Tuesday (B023, 12:45-2:15pm.) Come say hi!

if you are attending #CellBio2025 please check out the posters from our lab @hugheslabpenn.bsky.social. The lab will have a great showing this year featuring my talented colleagues @lsprahl.bsky.social @danielalber.bsky.social and many others!

Our story on mechanosensation in baroreceptor cells of the kidney is finally out! Well worth the wait on this project we began in 2020 that turned into a massive collaborative effort within the kidney field. 🫘 www.sciencedirect.com:5037/science/arti...