Fletcher Lab
@fletcherlabucb.bsky.social
Bioengineering, Biophysics, Computational Biology and Molecular and Cell Biology. Account run by students/post-docs.
Lab website: https://fletchlab.berkeley.edu/
Lab website: https://fletchlab.berkeley.edu/
Pinned
Fletcher Lab
@fletcherlabucb.bsky.social
· Nov 21
Lab: Why aren't we on Bluesky?
Dan: Umm. I don't follow Bluesky.
Lab: But the rest of the world does. Scientists too.
Dan: I see. What's your point?
Lab: We should be on Bluesky. And join scientific discussions.
Dan: I'm more the silent type.
Lab: We'll run it.
Dan: Go for it!
Dan: Umm. I don't follow Bluesky.
Lab: But the rest of the world does. Scientists too.
Dan: I see. What's your point?
Lab: We should be on Bluesky. And join scientific discussions.
Dan: I'm more the silent type.
Lab: We'll run it.
Dan: Go for it!
Preprint out now! Cell surfaces are crowded with tall proteins that block immune recognition.
We discovered tall binding proteins create “stepping stones” that help short receptors engage, even in dense crowds. A new design principle for #immunotherapy.
In memory of Phillip L. Geissler
We discovered tall binding proteins create “stepping stones” that help short receptors engage, even in dense crowds. A new design principle for #immunotherapy.
In memory of Phillip L. Geissler
Overcoming steric inhibition of antibody-dependent phagocytosis with tall adhesions
Macrophages recognize and phagocytose opsonized target cells, including those coated with IgG antibodies. This process relies on binding of IgG to Fcγ receptors (FcγR) expressed on the macrophage surf...
www.biorxiv.org
January 14, 2026 at 10:56 PM
Preprint out now! Cell surfaces are crowded with tall proteins that block immune recognition.
We discovered tall binding proteins create “stepping stones” that help short receptors engage, even in dense crowds. A new design principle for #immunotherapy.
In memory of Phillip L. Geissler
We discovered tall binding proteins create “stepping stones” that help short receptors engage, even in dense crowds. A new design principle for #immunotherapy.
In memory of Phillip L. Geissler
Reposted by Fletcher Lab
☕Cornell et al. show that target cells with low cortical tension induce #macrophages to preferentially trogocytose, or engulf in small fragments, whereas target cells with high #CorticalTension tend towards #phagocytosis.
bit.ly/3L7xFIO
bit.ly/3L7xFIO
Target cell cortical tension regulates macrophage trogocytosis - Nature Cell Biology
Cornell et al. show that target cells with low cortical tension induce macrophages to preferentially trogocytose, or engulf in small fragments, whereas target cells with high cortical tension tend tow...
bit.ly
December 30, 2025 at 5:23 PM
☕Cornell et al. show that target cells with low cortical tension induce #macrophages to preferentially trogocytose, or engulf in small fragments, whereas target cells with high #CorticalTension tend towards #phagocytosis.
bit.ly/3L7xFIO
bit.ly/3L7xFIO
How does a macrophage decide to eat or simply nibble? Check out our latest paper! You can also read this nice review. Congrats Caitlin for leading this amazing work!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Target cell cortical tension regulates macrophage trogocytosis - Nature Cell Biology
Cornell et al. show that target cells with low cortical tension induce macrophages to preferentially trogocytose, or engulf in small fragments, whereas target cells with high cortical tension tend tow...
www.nature.com
December 15, 2025 at 10:51 PM
How does a macrophage decide to eat or simply nibble? Check out our latest paper! You can also read this nice review. Congrats Caitlin for leading this amazing work!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Fletcher Lab
Macrophages can engulf targets whole (phagocytosis) or nibble them in small fragments (trogocytosis), a decision controlled by cortical tension (hi favors former, low latter)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@natcellbio.nature.com @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@natcellbio.nature.com @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social
December 13, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Macrophages can engulf targets whole (phagocytosis) or nibble them in small fragments (trogocytosis), a decision controlled by cortical tension (hi favors former, low latter)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@natcellbio.nature.com @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@natcellbio.nature.com @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social
Happy Thanksgiving! Gratitude today for everyone pushing the frontiers of science in their different roles.
November 27, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Happy Thanksgiving! Gratitude today for everyone pushing the frontiers of science in their different roles.
Check out our latest published manuscript: SurFlex microscopy, a new technique to measure molecular flexibility. Congrats to Aymeric, @sid592.bsky.social, @blenackmon.bsky.social, and Andres! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
SurFlex microscopy: Measuring flexibility of surface-tethered biomolecules | PNAS
The flexibility of tethered molecules, such as those bound to biological membranes,
is an important property that can influence molecular height, m...
www.pnas.org
November 25, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Check out our latest published manuscript: SurFlex microscopy, a new technique to measure molecular flexibility. Congrats to Aymeric, @sid592.bsky.social, @blenackmon.bsky.social, and Andres! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
October 21, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Reposted by Fletcher Lab
Our team is developing portable digital microscopes that harness AI to automatically detect parasitic infections.
This shows great potential to help public health programs expand access to affordable disease screening in low-resource settings.
Link: tinyurl.com/4bazch67
This shows great potential to help public health programs expand access to affordable disease screening in low-resource settings.
Link: tinyurl.com/4bazch67
October 14, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Our team is developing portable digital microscopes that harness AI to automatically detect parasitic infections.
This shows great potential to help public health programs expand access to affordable disease screening in low-resource settings.
Link: tinyurl.com/4bazch67
This shows great potential to help public health programs expand access to affordable disease screening in low-resource settings.
Link: tinyurl.com/4bazch67
Check out Siddhansh (@sid592.bsky.social) presentation at the 4th Physics of Life Symposium hosted by the #CZBiohubSF. youtu.be/b7G5wyE6iyo?...
2025 Physics of Life Symposium: Siddhansh Agarwal
YouTube video by Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network
youtu.be
September 22, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Check out Siddhansh (@sid592.bsky.social) presentation at the 4th Physics of Life Symposium hosted by the #CZBiohubSF. youtu.be/b7G5wyE6iyo?...
Happy Postdoc Appreciation Week to all of our postdocs! #PostdocAppreciationWeek
September 17, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Happy Postdoc Appreciation Week to all of our postdocs! #PostdocAppreciationWeek
Congratulations Kira for passing your qualifying exam!
August 27, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Congratulations Kira for passing your qualifying exam!
Take a look at our newest published article in PLOS NTD: doi.org/10.1371/jour... #schistosomiasis #ML #diagnostics
Multi-contrast machine learning improves schistosomiasis diagnostic performance
Author summary Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease that impacts hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Patients with Schistosoma haematobium shed parasite eggs in their urine, which can...
doi.org
August 13, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Take a look at our newest published article in PLOS NTD: doi.org/10.1371/jour... #schistosomiasis #ML #diagnostics
Check out our most recent published paper in @natcomms.nature.com about the effects of cell surface crowding in cell-cell fusion: rdcu.be/ezCOF
Cell surface crowding is a tunable energetic barrier to cell-cell fusion
Nature Communications - Cell-cell fusion is fundamental to physiological processes such as muscle formation and viral infection. Here, the authors show that the proteins embedded on the plasma...
rdcu.be
August 7, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Check out our most recent published paper in @natcomms.nature.com about the effects of cell surface crowding in cell-cell fusion: rdcu.be/ezCOF
Check out this talk by one of our amazing postdocs, Deepak! youtu.be/ErE3f5iyPio
2025 Interdisciplinary Science Summit Showcase Talk: Deepak Krishnamurthy
YouTube video by Schmidt Science Fellows
youtu.be
August 5, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Check out this talk by one of our amazing postdocs, Deepak! youtu.be/ErE3f5iyPio
Had fun at the MBL Physiology Course in Woods Hole!
Chunzi, Elizabeth & Kira led creative rotations:
• Trogocytosis is a mi(gh)t-y way to transfer
• Sync(ytium) or Swim: Which fusogen will reign supreme?
• Mucin Impossible: Eat up or get lost
Chunzi, Elizabeth & Kira led creative rotations:
• Trogocytosis is a mi(gh)t-y way to transfer
• Sync(ytium) or Swim: Which fusogen will reign supreme?
• Mucin Impossible: Eat up or get lost
July 25, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Had fun at the MBL Physiology Course in Woods Hole!
Chunzi, Elizabeth & Kira led creative rotations:
• Trogocytosis is a mi(gh)t-y way to transfer
• Sync(ytium) or Swim: Which fusogen will reign supreme?
• Mucin Impossible: Eat up or get lost
Chunzi, Elizabeth & Kira led creative rotations:
• Trogocytosis is a mi(gh)t-y way to transfer
• Sync(ytium) or Swim: Which fusogen will reign supreme?
• Mucin Impossible: Eat up or get lost
Welcome to our new BioE Ph.D. students, Smiti and Michael Anne! @smitim.bsky.social
June 27, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Welcome to our new BioE Ph.D. students, Smiti and Michael Anne! @smitim.bsky.social
Congratulations Caitlin!!
Congratulations to the eight recipients of the 2025 Dr. Eddie Méndez Scholar Award! This award recognizes outstanding early-career scientists from underrepresented backgrounds who are studying cancer, infectious diseases and basic sciences. Learn more: bit.ly/4jWvT8O
June 19, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Congratulations Caitlin!!
Come to the Annual Fletcher Lab Artshow on Friday May 9th, 2025! We host this event yearly as an opportunity for folks to display their artwork, come together with wine and cheese, and admire artwork!
April 21, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Come to the Annual Fletcher Lab Artshow on Friday May 9th, 2025! We host this event yearly as an opportunity for folks to display their artwork, come together with wine and cheese, and admire artwork!
Come explore and be amazed on April 12 and 13 at the @exploratorium.bsky.social. This event is based upon work supported by the Center for Cellular Construction. #microscopy #Magnified
April 9, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Come explore and be amazed on April 12 and 13 at the @exploratorium.bsky.social. This event is based upon work supported by the Center for Cellular Construction. #microscopy #Magnified
Congratulations to both Jared and Andres for passing their qualifying exams
April 1, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Congratulations to both Jared and Andres for passing their qualifying exams
The NTDscope is a portable brightfield, darkfield, and fluorescence microscope used for the diagnosis of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Check out our latest preprint: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
March 28, 2025 at 5:37 PM
The NTDscope is a portable brightfield, darkfield, and fluorescence microscope used for the diagnosis of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Check out our latest preprint: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Fletcher Lab
🌟Say hello to Dan Fletcher @fletcherlabucb.bsky.social, a bioengineer renowned for developing novel experimental approaches and microscopy tools with far-reaching impacts on our understanding of infectious diseases, immunology, and cancer biology. 1/
March 27, 2025 at 6:01 PM
🌟Say hello to Dan Fletcher @fletcherlabucb.bsky.social, a bioengineer renowned for developing novel experimental approaches and microscopy tools with far-reaching impacts on our understanding of infectious diseases, immunology, and cancer biology. 1/
Reposted by Fletcher Lab
preLights in cell biology (Feb 2025)
This article lists the recent @prelights.bsky.social posts that discuss #preprints in #cellbio. Featured #preLight by @fadelvalle.bsky.social covering work on macrophage trogocytosis from @fletcherlabucb.bsky.social.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
This article lists the recent @prelights.bsky.social posts that discuss #preprints in #cellbio. Featured #preLight by @fadelvalle.bsky.social covering work on macrophage trogocytosis from @fletcherlabucb.bsky.social.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
preLights in cell biology (February 2025)
This article includes recent preLights posts that discuss preprints in the field of cell biology.Target cell tension regulates macrophage trogocytosis by Caitlin E. Cornell et al.Read the preLight.Vis...
journals.biologists.com
March 10, 2025 at 9:43 AM
preLights in cell biology (Feb 2025)
This article lists the recent @prelights.bsky.social posts that discuss #preprints in #cellbio. Featured #preLight by @fadelvalle.bsky.social covering work on macrophage trogocytosis from @fletcherlabucb.bsky.social.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
This article lists the recent @prelights.bsky.social posts that discuss #preprints in #cellbio. Featured #preLight by @fadelvalle.bsky.social covering work on macrophage trogocytosis from @fletcherlabucb.bsky.social.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Some lab members and friends attended the #StandupforScience protest.
March 8, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Some lab members and friends attended the #StandupforScience protest.