Physical Biology of Developing Systems
@pbodslab.bsky.social
150 followers 170 following 41 posts
We are located at @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social McMaster University Biology/Physics departments studying early vertebrate embryo patterning with quantitative tools! www.physicalbiology.ca posts by M. Fethullah Simsek.
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pbodslab.bsky.social
1/5 Lab's first manuscript 🎉 is out @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social today! Beautifully, it is performed by a senior undergraduate thesis student, Mohammed! We developed a 3-D printed #zebrafish embryo imaging chamber 🔬and connected it to syringe pumps to be able to perfuse drugs in a timely fashion. 🧪
pbodslab.bsky.social
It was one-of-a-kind moment to meet Sir John Gurdon at @socdevbio.bsky.social meeting in 2019. Such a humble, down-to-earth personality who was deeply content with life! An exemplary scientist that one could find at the benchside playground regardless of age or career stage! May he rest in peace...
xenbase.bsky.social
Prof. Sir John Gurdon (1933-2025). It is with great sadness that I share the news of the death of a father of the Xenopus field, Professor Sir John Gurdon. www.xenbase.org/xenbase/doNe... #science #devbio #xenopus #frogs
pbodslab.bsky.social
4/5 We can further observe ERK signal dynamics with live translocation reporter (yellow), which shuttles into the nuclei (cyan) from cytoplasm at the moment MEK inhibitory drug is being perfused into the imaging chamber (~24min).
pbodslab.bsky.social
3/5 And as we perfuse 💉drugs 💊 and rinse them out in a pulsated fashion we can reconstitute somites in segmentation clock mutants (as I had done by hand in my postdoc @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41... ) now in a fully automated fashion, notice 5 boundaries forming at the end of movie 🐟:
pbodslab.bsky.social
2/5🐟 embryos can stably be imaged on stage in sub-cellular resolution:
pbodslab.bsky.social
1/5 Lab's first manuscript 🎉 is out @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social today! Beautifully, it is performed by a senior undergraduate thesis student, Mohammed! We developed a 3-D printed #zebrafish embryo imaging chamber 🔬and connected it to syringe pumps to be able to perfuse drugs in a timely fashion. 🧪
Reposted by Physical Biology of Developing Systems
johntngo.bsky.social
🚀 Our new paper is out @natmethods.nature.com!

Kuffer & Marzilli engineered conditionally stable MS2 & PP7 coat proteins (dMCP & dPCP) that degrade unless bound to RNA, enabling ultra–low-background, single-mRNA imaging in live cells.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧬 www.addgene.org/John_Ngo/
Reposted by Physical Biology of Developing Systems
lorenzoorts.bsky.social
I am excited to announce that I will be moving to IMB Mainz next year! The Winter call for the IPP PhD program is now open; if you are interested in maternal #mRNA regulation and #translation in early vertebrate development, please apply! Deadline: 16 October.

More info: www.imb.de/students-pos...
Laura Lorenzo Orts
IMB Mainz
www.imb.de
Reposted by Physical Biology of Developing Systems
pritiagarwal.bsky.social
🚨 The International Developmental Mechanics Zoom Seminar Series is back on Sept 25!
🎤 We have an exciting line-up of speakers this fall. See the image below for details
🌐 Website: sites.google.com/view/devmech...
📝 Interested in presenting? Sign up here: tinyurl.com/2munv5bv
Reposted by Physical Biology of Developing Systems
durocher1.bsky.social
JOB ALERT 🚨 We are hiring TWO principal investigators in cell, molecular, systems, or chemical biology in Toronto, Canada at @sinaihealth.bsky.social. We provide a generous startup, fully funded salary and academic appointment at U of Toronto.

www.nature.com/naturecareer...

Please repost!
Image of Toronto
Reposted by Physical Biology of Developing Systems
dev-journal.bsky.social
Mathematical modelling of the first fate decision

This Research Highlight showcases the work from Maria Avdeeva, Madeleine Chalifoux, Bradley Joyce, Stanislav Y. Shvartsman, Eszter Posfai @eposfai.bsky.social :

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Figure 1 - Live imaging of endogenously tagged YAP-miRFP670, mScarlet-I-SOX2 and CDX2-eGFP during the first fate decision in preimplantation embryos. (A) A developmental timeline of trophectoderm (TE) and inner cell mass (ICM) specification. The first cell differentiation event, between the TE (green) and ICM (purple), initiates at the 16-cell stage, establishing distinct inner, ICM, and outer, TE, cell populations in the 32-cell stage embryo. Embryos in this study are imaged until the 32-cell stage. Days post-fertilization are denoted by embryonic day. (B) Sox2 and Cdx2 expression is regulated by YAP. In ICM cells, YAP is phosphorylated and retained in the cytoplasm, facilitating Sox2 expression. In TE cells, YAP is predominantly localized to the nucleus where it activates expression of Cdx2. (C) Time-lapse images of a representative embryo expressing YAP-miRFP670, mScarlet-I-SOX2 and H2B-miRFP670 from the 8-cell through the late 32-cell stage. A z-stack was acquired every 15 min for YAP and H2B channels, and every 30 min for the SOX2 channel. Maximum intensity projections (MIPs) are shown. Unit of time is hours. Scale bar: 10 µm. (D) Time-lapse images of a representative embryo expressing YAP-miRFP670, CDX2-eGFP and H2B-miRFP670 from the 8-cell stage through the late 32-cell stage. Scale bar: 10 µm.
Reposted by Physical Biology of Developing Systems
mishaahrens.bsky.social
Preprint -
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Physical Biology of Developing Systems
epimechfc.bsky.social
Are different cell types like oil and water? Over a century ago, researchers found that dissociated sponges and embryonic tissues can self-assemble into functional structures. Join me, @benswedlund.bsky.social to explore the differential adhesion hypothesis & its applications in tissue engineering!
pbodslab.bsky.social
Really cool experiments to solve a developmental mystery! 👏🏻I see how torque arises, but where does the chirality come from? Why are they whirling counter clockwise as seen from dorsal? Sorry didn't dig the preprint yet..
pbodslab.bsky.social
If you can combine with a controlled (in space and/or time) chemokine signal, would be interesting to see how to win the tug of war with optogenetic pulses...
pbodslab.bsky.social
I was seeing those in clouds frequently when doing drug induced somite experiments 🙃
Reposted by Physical Biology of Developing Systems
estherverheyen.bsky.social
CIHR rant here: our panel funded 6 (!!) out of 42 applications. That is only 14% success rate. That is as bad as the worst of times. So much good science left unfunded, labs closing, skilled workers let go. Without a $$ infusion, the Canadian research ecosystem is never going to survive and thrive.
pbodslab.bsky.social
The day which will come for every single one of us... It is interestingly different to live expecting it to come near while enjoying the legacy of what has been gifted and what awaits around the corner. With much respect and support. 🩵
pbodslab.bsky.social
To see supplementary figure S39 which I have no idea how ended up there go to page 109!
Reposted by Physical Biology of Developing Systems
oritpeleg.bsky.social
📣 We're on the lookout for a creative postdoc with strong computational skills!

Be the go-to person in the lab for building simple but powerful simulations that test wild ideas on biological rythems: from daily cycles of mussel groups at deep sea, to firefly flash synchronization!

More info below👇
Reposted by Physical Biology of Developing Systems
onenimesa.bsky.social
Have you ever thought about inflating tissues?
Or maybe quickly deflating those inflated tissues?

New #EpithelialMechanics pre-print: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🧵 with pressure control, multiscale buckling, controlled wrinkling
Reposted by Physical Biology of Developing Systems
vmetzis.bsky.social
Paper alert! I am really pleased to share the final version of the work led by Irène Amblard in the team on a regulatory switch controlling Cdx2 expression during posterior body development! #regulatorylogic #devbio @mrc-lms.bsky.social @imperialmed.bsky.social
Reposted by Physical Biology of Developing Systems
trackingactions.bsky.social
🥰 Self-supervised, label-free 3D cell imaging is here

Congrats to Cyril on this very cool first, first author publication 🏆! This started when he was a bachelor's student (and he's now completing his masters!).

And many thanks to my other awesome co-authors🙏

elifesciences.org/articles/99848
Self-supervised, label-free 3D cell imaging is here
EPFL researchers introduce CellSeg3D, a self-supervised tool for 3D cell segmentation in fluorescence microscopy, eliminating the need for manual labeling and enhancing accessibility for various biolo...
actu.epfl.ch