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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab
@amoyellab.bsky.social
250 followers 190 following 51 posts
Stem cell biology and all things fly testis
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 25
🆕🧪‼️
New lab preprint!
We study how germ cells (the cells that give rise to gametes, in this case sperm) are supported by somatic (non-germ) cells of the gonad. This matters for our understanding of reproduction - without germ cell development, animals are sterile.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Somatic cells compartmentalise their metabolism to sustain germ cell survival
To ensure success in reproduction, organisms dedicate substantial resources to supporting the germline. In testes, somatic gonadal cells form a barrier that isolates germ cells from circulating nutrie...
www.biorxiv.org
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · 11d
Thanks for writing this - all of us in development need to hear this!
bethanclark.bsky.social
Bethan Clark @bethanclark.bsky.social · 11d
I wrote something on developmental biology and disability and put it up on the node last night:

thenode.biologists.com/developmenta...

I've been nervous to share because some of it veers a bit personal but they are thoughts that won't stay quiet. Would love to know what people think about it!
Developmental Biology and Disability - the Node
Hopeful monsters. Morphospace. Mutation. Natural variation. Mutagenesis screens. Polymorphism. Deformity. Phenotype. Disease. Adaptation. Anomaly.
thenode.biologists.com
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · 16d
And if you're at @edrc2025.bsky.social, come check out Alicia Donoghue present this work in the signalling session tomorrow (Friday) 15:00!
amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · 16d
Interested in morphogens and how they can robustly specifiy different cell types with single-cell resolution?
Check out this preprint combining experiments and modelling by our colleagues and partners in crime @ucl-cdb.bsky.social:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Morphogen and juxtacrine signalling dynamically integrate to specify cell fates with single-cell resolution
Morphogen gradients guide tissue patterning but do not act in isolation. How they integrate with other signalling modalities, like juxtacrine signalling, and how these integrations influence pattern r...
www.biorxiv.org
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · 28d
Fantastic meeting! Thanks @events.embl.org for hosting, @embo.org for funding this and to organisers and all attendees for thought-provoking and exciting science!
events.embl.org
EMBL Events @events.embl.org · 29d
✨ That's a wrap on #EMBODevMet after four inspiring days of cutting-edge science, new ideas, and reconnections.

👏 A huge thanks to all participants, speakers, and organisers who made this event so special.

We can't wait to welcome you back to another EMBL event 👉 embl.org/events
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · 28d
Looking forward to this! Great chance to catch up with everyone and all the amazing Drosophila research going on!
edrc2025.bsky.social
EDRC2025 @edrc2025.bsky.social · 28d
Abstract submission is now closed but you can still register to #EDRC2025 until the meeting starts! Looking forward to seeing you all in Alicante!
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Aug 8
Thanks! It's been a really fun project and between your work and ours, highlights how conserved male germ cell biology is...
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Reposted by Amoyel lab
scienceleah.bsky.social
Leah Rosin @scienceleah.bsky.social · Aug 4
So excited to share this preprint from the Rosin lab in collaboration with the Hawley lab and @eelcotromer.bsky.social on moth spermatogenesis! We investigate the meiotic errors that occur during the formation of apyrene sperm (that have no DNA) in silkworms!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Programmed meiotic errors facilitate dichotomous sperm production in the silkworm, Bombyx mori
The goal of meiosis is typically to produce haploid gametes (eggs or sperm). Failure to do so is catastrophic for fertility and offspring health. However, Lepidopteran (moths and butterflies) males pr...
www.biorxiv.org
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 27
Lovely work by @martinestermann.bsky.social and colleagues from the Capel lab! Together with our recent work (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...), this really makes a strong case that lactate is crucial to supporting male germ cells in vivo - from flies to mammals.
biorxiv-devbio.bsky.social
bioRxiv Developmental Biology @biorxiv-devbio.bsky.social · Jul 27
Glycogen metabolism in mouse embryonic Sertoli cells sustains the germ line through the lactate shuttle https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.23.666216v1
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 25
😵‍💫
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 25
Plenty more in the manuscript - read it here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
This is the work of @diegosainzdelamaza.bsky.social, started by Holly Jefferson a few years ago, with help from undergraduate students, Sonia and Celine.
And thanks to so many colleagues for advice, help and reagents!
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 25
Finally, we ask how the soma ensures it produces enough lactate to support the germline. We show it's a very delicate balance and the somatic cells are careful not to use pyruvate in their own mitochondria; in other words, they exclusively dedicate the glycolytic pathway to support the germline.
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 25
One for the 🪰 nerds: we found a previously uncharacterised transporter that mediates lactate transport from somatic cells to the germline, so we get to name it. We called it milkman 🥛.
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 25
Excitingly, germ cells consume lactate (but don't produce it) - knocking down the enzyme that interconverts lactate and pyruvate, Ldh, in germ cells, results in lactate accumulation (contrary to the somatic cells which produce lactate)
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 25
So what do the somatic cells provide? We used fluorescent reporters for metabolites and we see that they produce lactate. Knocking down the enzyme that produces lactate from the glycolytic product pyruvate, Ldh, in somatic cells causes germ cells to die.
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 25
If we block glycolysis in somatic cells, we find that germ cells start dying. There's always some death in the germline, but almost twice as much when we knock down glycolytic genes in somatic cells. Knock down in the germ cells themselves has no effect - they don't break down sugars themselves.
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 25
We show that somatic cells of the testis take up circulating sugars and break them down through glycolysis.
But germ cells don't express the genes needed for glycolysis.
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 25
So where do germ cells get their nutrients from? And how does the soma make sure they get enough?
That's what we answer here.
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 25
It has been known for a long time that male germ cells are enveloped by somatic cells and lose access to nutrients from blood circulation. Not just in mammals, but even in flies (where blood is called haemolymph) as shown by @tanentzapflab.bsky.social.
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 25
🆕🧪‼️
New lab preprint!
We study how germ cells (the cells that give rise to gametes, in this case sperm) are supported by somatic (non-germ) cells of the gonad. This matters for our understanding of reproduction - without germ cell development, animals are sterile.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Somatic cells compartmentalise their metabolism to sustain germ cell survival
To ensure success in reproduction, organisms dedicate substantial resources to supporting the germline. In testes, somatic gonadal cells form a barrier that isolates germ cells from circulating nutrie...
www.biorxiv.org
1 12 25
amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 23
yes - you should talk to Inês in Vil's lab, she's really the one who went through it all.
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 23
We've been using a tip washer to reuse tips for most things - most of what we do is immunohistochemistry. We've been a bit more reluctant than the fish floor to use them for molecular biology work, but it doesn't seem to affect their gels so maybe we'll start using washed tips for that too.
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Reposted by Amoyel lab
biorxiv-devbio.bsky.social
bioRxiv Developmental Biology @biorxiv-devbio.bsky.social · Jul 22
Somatic cells compartmentalise their metabolism to sustain germ cell survival https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.22.666113v1
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jul 23
Essential reading! How often do we really need to change plastic pipette tips?
We've been washing and reusing tips in our lab too, led by Inês Baldaia who really led on making sure that tip washing doesn't interfere with data.
asupp.bsky.social
Anya Suppermpool @asupp.bsky.social · Jul 22
Load gels? Use #zebrafish 🐟? Want to do more sustainable research w/out compromising science? We-G Gestri, K Turner, G Powell @stevewilsonlab.bsky.social-made these protocols. Yes, we use these in our @science.org[email protected] papers.
www.protocols.io/view/re-usin...
www.protocols.io/view/washing...
Re-using pipette tips for gel loading
Gel loading tips can be reused for most applications; there’s REALLY no need to throw them away after a single use. In our labs, we routinely reuse tips when loading gels, onl...
www.protocols.io
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jun 12
Congratulations Courtney! Well deserved!
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amoyellab.bsky.social
Amoyel lab @amoyellab.bsky.social · Jun 6
👋
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