Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · 2d

Garcia Lab did it again! Such a fantastic read if you are interested in FAs mechanics and biology. Congratulations to @garcialabgt.bsky.social

Mechanochemical waves in focal adhesions during cell migration

Traction force and FAK signaling exhibit oscillatory temporal coupling in adhesive structures.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Sam Aytekin

Rocha Lab @rochalab.bsky.social · 5d

Still buzzing after the @cellmech2025.bsky.social conference in Leuven!
It was great to connect with so many experts in mechanobiology and to be part of this close, dynamic community. We enjoyed the inspiring talks and left with plenty of new ideas.💡
Already looking forward to the next edition!

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Reposted by Sam Aytekin

Pere Roca-Cusachs @pcusachs.bsky.social · Apr 1

Interested in how cells respond when squeezed? Check the review paper just published by Laura Faure, @valeriaventurini.bsky.social and myself on this. Really thorough and clear revision by Laura and Valeria!

Journal of Cell Science @jcellsci.bsky.social · Mar 28

In their Review, Laura Faure, Valeria Venturini @valeriaventurini.bsky.social and Pere Roca-Cusachs discuss the biological contexts of cell mechanical compression, the associated mechanisms and the experimental systems engineered to compress cells in vitro.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

Cartoon of techniques to apply one-dimensional, in-plane or volumetric cell compression in vitro.

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Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · 7d

Always an honor to hear @johannaivaska.bsky.social share her insights, this time on how composite ECM components influence cell behavior, and how fibronectin-dense regions affect (or not) YAP/Oct-1 localization. An inspiring talk from an inspiring scientist. @cellmech2025.bsky.social.

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Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · 8d

Great experience presenting my work at @cellmech2025.bsky.social, where I shared how TFM and FRET sensors reveal the relationship between cellular tractions and focal adhesion tension. Sacrificed the food and drinks, but the (rather intense) discussions made up for it 💪🏻

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Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · 8d

Exciting week ahead! @cellmech2025.bsky.social is looking truly incredible and we are happy to be here as @rochalab.bsky.social. Let’s share some quality science! 🔬

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Reposted by Sam Aytekin

Sara Wickstrom @sarawickstrom.bsky.social · 9d

How do #stemcells integrate information to coordinate fate decisions? Delighted to finally see our work showing how growth factors regulate the mechano-osmotic state of the #nucleus and #chromatin to control #pluripotency exit out! www.nature.com/articles/s41... see 🧵 👇

Mechano-osmotic signals control chromatin state and fate transitions in pluripotent stem cells - Nature Cell Biology

McCreery, Stubb et al. show that mechano-osmotic changes in the nucleus induce general transcriptional repression and prime chromatin for cell fate transitions by relieving repression of specific differentiation genes.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Sam Aytekin

Sara Wickstrom @sarawickstrom.bsky.social · Aug 7

Very happy to see our preprint on how the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1 controls intercellular junction maturation by balancing cortex and membrane tension now published in @jcellsci.bsky.social Congratulations to Ahsan & team! journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

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Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · Jul 22

Huge respect for this technically wild study from the Oakes lab👏
Combining laser ablation, TFM, vinculin tension probes, optogenetics and FRAP, they show that the recruitment of zyxin & paxillin, but not of vinculin and its tension, correlate with local tension changes. Interesting and challenging!

Patrick Oakes @pwoakes.bsky.social · Jul 21

Our new preprint is out! Led by @stefanosala89.bsky.social sky.social we investigate the difference between molecular tension sensing and global tension on the focal adhesion. Follow along for a thread of our findings:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

LIM Domain Proteins link molecular and global tension by recognizing strained actin in adhesions

Mechanotransduction is fundamental to cell signaling and depends on force-sensitive adhesion proteins. How these proteins differentiate and integrate their responses to tension remains an open questio...

www.biorxiv.org

Reposted by Sam Aytekin

Xavier Trepat @xaviertrepat.bsky.social · Jun 30

How to turn a layer of fibroblasts into a tulip 🌷?

Check out our new pre-print on shape-programmable living surfaces.

Led by @pauguillamat.bsky.social‬

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

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Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · Jun 26

Thanks Isaac, it’s very nice of you! It’s almost there :))

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Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · Jun 26

Congratulations! Such a clever and simple approach. Would definitely like to give it a try!

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Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · Jun 26

One major drawback of DNA force sensors is their super short lifetime—making them rather unsuitable for most bio studies. Huge congrats (and thanks) to isaacli.bsky.social’s team for solving one more problem for the field! Looks like it’s time to image some integrin forces 😎

Isaac Li @isaacli.bsky.social · Jun 25

Latest from the lab: 🧬 Decoy DNA 🧬 can extend the lifetime of DNA-based tension probes >24h by outcompeting DNases and preserving signal integrity in live-cell tension imaging. This is a simple, general strategy for robust mechanobiology in DNase-rich environments. doi.org/10.1002/anie...

Reposted by Sam Aytekin

Cecilia Zaza @ceciliazaza.bsky.social · May 30

Can we break past the usual limits of #SuperResolution #Microscopy—achieving deep-imaging, high-res, large FOV imaging without the trade-offs?
🧬🔬 YES: with #DNA_PAINT + Spinning Disk Confocal + Optical Photon Reassignment (#SDC-OPR)!
📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natcomms.nature.com!
🧵👇

Super-resolution imaging in whole cells and tissues via DNA-PAINT on a spinning disk confocal with optical photon reassignment - Nature Communications

Zaza and colleagues demonstrate that DNA-PAINT on a spinning disk confocal microscope with optical photon reassignment enables high-resolution imaging across large fields and imaging depths, resolving...

www.nature.com

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Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · Jun 7

Hydrogels are essential in mechanobiology—and PIC is a game changer.
Fully synthetic yet highly biomimetic, PIC opens new possibilities for 3D cell culture applications.
Congrats to Hongbo Yuan, Kouwer Lab, and rochalab.bsky.social on this detailed Nature Protocols guide! 👏📜

Fibrous polyisocyanide hydrogels for 3D cell culture applications - Nature Protocols

Methods to use polyisocyanide as a model matrix for 3D cell culture. Polyisocyanide gels closely mimic the physical properties of biogels such as collagen and fibrin and, as fully synthetic materials,...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Sam Aytekin

Jelle Hendrix @profjelle.bsky.social · May 29

Me: I see lines in my 🔬 confocal images! 💊 Doctor: please read this paper! doi.org/10.1016/j.bb...

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Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · May 25

This months #GRC on Fibronectin, Integrins and Related Molecules 🔬was a reminder of how powerful in-person science can be. Lots of unpublished research, discussions and brainstorming; making friends and making collaborators too. GRC is a unique experience and I’m still processing it all!

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Reposted by Sam Aytekin

Ben Goult @bengoult.bsky.social · May 23

Registration is now open, come join us in beautiful Zadar (Croatia) in September for Adhere2. event.fourwaves.com/adhere2/pages

2nd International Conference Focused on Cell Adhesion - ADHERE 2

Fourwaves - 2nd International Conference Focused on Cell Adhesion - ADHERE 2

event.fourwaves.com

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Reposted by Sam Aytekin

Ben Goult @bengoult.bsky.social · May 23

The GRC on Fibronectin, Integrins and Related Molecules earlier this month was a fantastic meeting.

Good work @tanentzapflab.bsky.social and @sarawickstrom.bsky.social for organising.

www.grc.org/fibronectin-...

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Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · May 25

Such a well deserved award. Congratulations to @johannaivaska.bsky.social and her fantastic team 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Finnish Science Award to Professor Johanna Ivaska

The Finnish Science Award 2025 has been awarded to Johanna Ivaska, Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at the University of Turku.

www.utu.fi

Reposted by Sam Aytekin

Carsten Schulte @carstenschulte4.bsky.social · May 18

Very important publication highlighting the need for more realistic cell culture disease models that recapitulate better (patho)physiological conditions.

eLife @elife.bsky.social · May 18

YAP, a protein known to help #cancer cells survive treatment, behaves very differently in cell culture models depending on how they are grown in the lab, highlighting the importance of mimicking tumour architecture to guide better drug strategies.
buff.ly/KQ9bkLg

Immunofluorescence images of YAP, β-catenin, and DAPI in cell cultures

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Reposted by Sam Aytekin

Michal Dibus @midibu.bsky.social · May 9

Happy to share our Tensin 1 phase separation project is now on bioRxiv.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

This wouldn't be possible without
@johannaivaska.bsky.social
@ivaskalab.bsky.social
#VattulainenLab
#MSCA by @ec.europa.eu
@turkubioscience.bsky.social
@inflames-flagship.bsky.social

Adhesion-derived condensates control component availability to regulate adhesion dynamics

Integrin adhesion complexes mediate cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions and undergo dynamic remodelling to regulate cell adhesion and migration. Here, we demonstrate that tensin 1 (TNS1), a m...

www.biorxiv.org

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Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · May 7

What a view for science! ☀️⛰️
#GRC on #Fibronectin, #Integrins and Related Molecules is going strong in Renaissance Tuscany Il Ciocco with a beautiful backdrop. I am happy to share my work on focal adhesion mechanics in my first-time Gordon conference with the brightest minds in the field. 🔬

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Sam Aytekin @samaytekin.bsky.social · May 2

We did it!
🧪 After years of fiddling with gels, lasers, cells, and infinite lines of custom codes, our first preprint is out!
We integrated TFM & FRET-based tension probes into one workflow to zoom in on focal adhesions mechanics 🔬
Already 400 downloads and I’m only mildly panicking 😅

Linking Molecular Tension and Cellular Tractions: A Multiscale Approach to Focal Adhesion Mechanics

Focal adhesions (FAs) are mechanosensitive structures that mediate force transmission between cells and the extracellular matrix. While Traction Force Microscopy (TFM) quantifies cellular tractions ex...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Sam Aytekin

CellMech2025 @cellmech2025.bsky.social · Mar 4

🌞 Today, the old Cloth Hall is the university’s policy center.
☕ Inside you can visit a tiny museum, a university shop and a coffee bar.

It is still the central place of enrollment, and one of its halls is still regularly used for public PhD defenses and amazing conferences like CELLMECH!!

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