Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jeff Rasmussen @jraslab.bsky.social · 1d

Congratulations to @errricpeterman.bsky.social for the second-ever journal cover from the lab!

Journal of Cell Science @jcellsci.bsky.social · 1d

Issue 18 is complete

Explore our ToC: journals.biologists.com/jcs/issue/13...

On the cover: macrophages (white) migrating towards a scratch wound in a zebrafish skin explant (α-catenin, magenta). From @errricpeterman.bsky.social @jraslab.bsky.social et al.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

JCS cover showing skin-resident macrophages migrating to a scratch wound in the epithelial cells (marked with α-catenin-Citrine, magenta) of a zebrafish skin explant.

4

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Adrian Liston @labliston.bsky.social · 3d

A small primer on the #NobelPrize awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi today. This prize was for combining two separate fields of immunology research - genetic research on IPEX and immunology research of regulatory T cells (#Tregs), with enormous impact on biology/medicine

2 72 150

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Eric Peterman @errricpeterman.bsky.social · 6d

cover image yeeeeeeeeehawwwww #flourescentfriday
check out our work in the most recent issue of @jcellsci.bsky.social !

Cover: Skin-resident macrophages (white) migrate towards a scratch wound (centre) in a zebrafish skin explant. To reach the wound margin, migrating macrophages must navigate through a dense network of epithelial cells, which are visualised using a reporter for epithelial junctions (α-catenin-Citrine, magenta). Live-cell imaging and chemical perturbations demonstrate that skin macrophages require microtubules to efficiently respond to tissue damage and navigate epithelial obstacles. See article by E. Peterman et al. (jcs264101).

1 5 18

Jeff Rasmussen @jraslab.bsky.social · 14d

Latest paper from the lab!
👀 Check out this macrophage (labeled with a microtubule reporter in blue) avoid an epithelial obstacle (labeled with a nuclear reporter in pink) as it migrates to a wound (off screen to the left) ⬅️
Video credit: @errricpeterman.bsky.social

Journal of Cell Science @jcellsci.bsky.social · 15d

Eric Peterman @errricpeterman.bsky.social, Jeffrey Rasmussen @jraslab.bsky.social @uwbiology.bsky.social & colleagues discover that microtubules regulate tissue-level navigation in skin-resident macrophages.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Article: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

1 9

Jeff Rasmussen @jraslab.bsky.social · 20d

Thank you @jcellsci.bsky.social for this research highlight "Microtubules help macrophages navigate the epidermal maze" as a companion to our manuscript from @errricpeterman.bsky.social !
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

Microtubules help macrophages navigate the epidermal maze

Specialised macrophages called Langerhans cells respond rapidly to skin damage, migrating to wounds to promote tissue repair. Due to their fast migration and presence in a superficial tissue, these ce...

journals.biologists.com

2 3

Jeff Rasmussen @jraslab.bsky.social · 21d

Congrats to @errricpeterman.bsky.social on leading our latest paper now published in @jcellsci.bsky.social ! Eric found multiple roles for microtubules in tissue-resident macrophage homeostasis and function -- including in helping macrophages navigate around epithelial obstacles during wound repair👇

Eric Peterman @errricpeterman.bsky.social · 21d

now online! check out our work describing roles for microtubules in tissue-resident macrophages during directed cell migration. thanks to @jcellsci.bsky.social for a stress-free publication process
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

Microtubules in a skin-resident macrophage

1 6 15

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 22d

My awesome Drosophila colleague Akhila Rajan at Fred Hutch (Seattle) is recruiting both a staff scientist and a postdoc to study fat–brain communication, innate immunity, mitochondrial signaling, and brain senescence. Great team, great environment. Apply here: careers-fhcrc.icims.com/jobs/30062/j...

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Fred Hutch is dedicated to the elimination of cancer and related diseases as causes of human suffering and death.

careers-fhcrc.icims.com

38 47

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Bret Pearson @sheckyfeinblatt.bsky.social · Sep 5

Our postdoc ad is up on the SDB website! Come to Portland and study regenerative neurogenesis in planarians and zebrafish:
www.sdbonline.org/resource?Res...

Society for Developmental Biology | Resource

www.sdbonline.org

7 5

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Science in Seattle @scienceinseattle.com · Aug 21

In a new @uwbiology.bsky.social publication, the @jraslab.bsky.social describes the discovery of a transitional cell type, dendritic #MerkelCells, that connects keratinocyte progenitors to mature touch-sensitive Merkel cells.

📰Press release: https://bit.ly/4mj1xPE
🥼Abstract: https://bit.ly/43Zd3cn

1 2

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Merkel Cell Carcinoma Collaborative (MC3) Institute @mc3-institute.bsky.social · Aug 1

🗞️ Fresh off the press! #MC3Memos newsletter vol 2 is here—packed w/ stories, latest advancements, & opportunities within the Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MC3) Institute.

📰 mc3institute.uw.edu/news/mc3-memos-vol-2

@fredhutch.bsky.social @uwmedicine.bsky.social
#merkelcellcarcinoma #cancerresearch

2 3

Jeff Rasmussen @jraslab.bsky.social · Jul 31

Way to represent @uwbiology.bsky.social !

Society for Developmental Biology @socdevbio.bsky.social · Jul 25

🐌💫 Snail embryos never looked so fabulous!
Tubulin (white), phospho-histone H3 (pink), and F-Actin (cyan) light up this early stage like a cytoskeletal disco ball.
Image from Clemens Cabernard & Adam von Barnau Sythoff 🪩🧬 #FluorescenceFriday

1

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Society for Developmental Biology @socdevbio.bsky.social · Jul 23

Applications are now open for the 2026 SDB Science Communication Internship. Graduate student and postdoc members of the Society for Developmental Biology are eligible to apply. Deadline: August 15. Learn more: www.sdbonline.org/science_comm...

9 13

Jeff Rasmussen @jraslab.bsky.social · Jul 9

👀 Latest paper from the lab now published @dev-journal.bsky.social

Development @dev-journal.bsky.social · Jul 6

Dendritic atoh1a+ cells serve as Merkel cell precursors during skin development and regeneration

Read this #LifelongDevSI Research Article by Evan Craig, @jraslab.bsky.social and colleagues @uwbiology.bsky.social:
doi.org/10.1242/dev....

🎥Microvilli dynamics in zebrafish Merkel cells

1

Jeff Rasmussen @jraslab.bsky.social · Jun 26

🎉 Our study identifying the direct precursors of Merkel cells is now published in @dev-journal.bsky.social Thank you to our reviewers @reviewcommons.org and collaborators for helping us improve the manuscript. Check out these cell behaviors we visualized in #zebrafish skin. doi.org/10.1242/dev....

1 7 11

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Sam Fernandes @samfernandes.bsky.social · Jun 17

My latest article is up on Developmental Biology~
Learn about data that waited 15 years to be published! 👀
www.sciencedirect.com/journal/deve...

News - Developmental Biology | ScienceDirect.com by ElsevierScienceDirect

Read the latest articles of Developmental Biology at ScienceDirect.com, Elsevier’s leading platform of peer-reviewed scholarly literature

www.sciencedirect.com

3 6

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Max Heiman @heiman.bsky.social · Jun 9

In 1975 "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Space Oddity" were on the UK top 100, and Ward, Thomson, White, and Brenner published the first reconstruction of the C. elegans sensory anatomy.

A short 50 years later, we reconstructed the same neurons and glia in the embryo:
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

5 18 57

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · Jun 3

Talked to @KateZernike at @nytimes about my journey and the current moment for scientists in the U.S.

“Ardem Patapoutian’s story is not just the American dream, it is the dream of American science.”

Read the article here. No subscription required:

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/u...

The U.S. Lit a Beacon for Science. Under Trump, Scientists Fear It’s Dimming

www.nytimes.com

7 94 230

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Society for Developmental Biology @socdevbio.bsky.social · May 7

Check out #SDBSciCommIntern Samantha Fernandes' samfernandes.bsky.social story on 2023 SDB Emerging Research Organisms Grant Recipient Emma Rangel-Huerta & her work establishing rice coral as a #devbio research organism. www.sdbonline.org/resource?Res...

Rice Coral (M. capitata) polyps at one month of age labeled with GFP (green). Autofluorescence of their symbiotic algae (magenta). Captured with an epifluorescence microscope. (Credit: Emma Rangel-Huerta)

5 10

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

John Tuthill @tuthill.bsky.social · May 19

New preprint from the lab, led by grad student Brandon Pratt, on the encoding properties and sensorimotor function of proprioceptive limit detectors (ie, hair plates) in the fly leg.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

3 20 75

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Daniel Gorelick @danielgorelick.bsky.social · Apr 30

Any research paper reporting results of NIH-funded research, published on/after July 1, 2025, must be immediately free to read on PubMedCentral. No more 12 month embargo grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

NOT-OD-25-047: 2024 NIH Public Access Policy

NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: 2024 NIH Public Access Policy NOT-OD-25-047. OD

grants.nih.gov

2 4

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Eric Peterman @errricpeterman.bsky.social · Mar 17

monday monday monday! check out our new preprint studying microtubule requirements in skin macrophages. lots of neat zebrafish imaging and tissue damage assays
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Microtubule-dependent cell polarity regulates skin-resident macrophage phagocytosis and directed cell migration

Immune cells rapidly respond to tissue damage through dynamic properties of the cytoskeleton. How microtubules control immune cell functions during injury responses remains poorly understood. Within s...

www.biorxiv.org

1 10

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Eric Peterman @errricpeterman.bsky.social · Feb 28

timeline cleanse, enjoy some zebrafish scales/skin/immune cells and figure 1A of our upcoming preprint #fluorescencefriday

zebrafish skin in white, immune cells in cyan

5 44

Reposted by Jeff Rasmussen

Dan Grimes @dangrimes.bsky.social · Jan 21

Still time to apply for @uoregon.bsky.social Summer Program for Undergraduate Research — a paid 10-week research opportunity this summer for undergrads in the life sciences.

Details in the flyer below.

Please share.

6 8

Jeff Rasmussen @jraslab.bsky.social · Dec 23

Congrats to @errricpeterman.bsky.social and Pearl on their study following calcium dynamics in tissue-resident macrophages of the skin!

American Society for Cell Biology @ascbiology.bsky.social · Dec 23

From MBoC
@jraslab findings demonstrate that Langerhans cells exhibit context-specific changes in calcium activity and highlight the utility of skin as an accessible model for imaging calcium dynamics in tissue-resident macrophages.

www.molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/...

1 3