Alejo Torres

Reminder to apply - talk applications accepted continuously, there is no deadline. We will be seeking speakers throughout all of next year, so if you have a story on metabolism in development you're excited to share, here's the perfect place:

Architecture of the neutrophil compartment - Nature Mapping of the neutrophil compartment using single-cell transcriptional data from multiple physiological and patological states reveals its organizational architecture and how cell state dynamics and ...

I’m thrilled to introduce you to the NeuMap! our latest work in@nature.com. A global, comprehensive, single-cell transcriptional atlas of neutrophils across 47 biological conditions in human and mice. A real tour de force www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Specialized signaling centers direct cell fate and spatial organization in a mesodermal organoid model Stem cell–derived mesodermal organoids reveal how signaling centers guide cell fate and tissue organization.

🎉 Our deconstructed, stem-cell–based approach to studying signaling centers and limb-development cell types is out! 🥳 So nice to see it in its final form after the preprint— and huge thanks to the community for all the enthusiasm and interest since then!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Research reveals how cells organise to build the pancreas | King's College London New research from King’s College London shows how different cell types develop, assemble and interact to build a functioning pancreas.

Research from Professor Francesca Spagnoli reveals how different cell types develop, assemble, and communicate to build a functioning pancreas.🧬

www.kcl.ac.uk/news/researc...

Image credit: Alejo Torres-Cano et al. Sci. Adv. 11,eadx5791(2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adx5791

🚨 here it is the #DashBoard accompanying our new paper
(see 🧵 below)

➡️ spatial-pancreatic-maps.sites.er.kcl.ac.uk

😃 have fun exploring the dataset & #spatial #maps 🗺️

👏 👏 Kudo to Sami (#Siwanarta Ma) MScs Bioinformatics for building the #DashBoard !!

Thrilled to see the work of my postdoc in the @labspagnoli.bsky.social finally published!
Many thanks to all the co-authors for all the help!

Pathogenic Keratinocyte States and Fibroblast Niches Define the Tissue Microenvironment in Severe Hidradenitis Suppurativa #SingleCell 🧪🧬🖥️
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.11.682326v1

Hierarchical lineage architecture of human and avian spinal cord revealed by single-cell genomic barcoding The formation of neural circuits depends on the precise spatial and temporal organisation of neuronal populations during development. In the vertebrate spinal cord, progenitors are patterned into mole...

Thrilled to share my main postdoc work with @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social

We used genomic barcoding + scRNAseq in chick & human embryos to reveal a lineage architecture that reshapes how we understand neural tube development & cell fate decisions
🧵👇

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

A multimodal cross-species comparison of pancreas development - Nature Communications This study establishes the pig as a complementary model for studying human pancreas development. It shows pigs mimic human developmental tempo, gene regulation, and endocrine cell emergence, offering ...

New from the @heikolickert.bsky.social clan and great work from Carina together with all collaborators and the Theis lab to study pancreas development across species, bringing new insights into conserved pathways using multimodal computational analysis www.nature.com/articles/s41... #PancSky

Happy to share a new tool from the @heikolickert.bsky.social lab!
We generated human iPSC fluorescent reporter lines to monitor Wnt/PCP signaling activity by Flattop in stem cell derived β-cells.
doi.org/10.1016/j.sc...
Thanks to all the co-authors that helped in the present and the past!

I am absolutely delighted to share the invited speakers for our upcoming @bsdb.bsky.social "Molecules to Morphogenesis" meeting!

Registration and abstract submission is now open - join us!

bsdb.org/meetings/

March 23-26, 2026 - UK

Out @natcomms.nature.com:
our work on how the ❤️-supporting pericardium forms & acts in pediatric heart conditions.🎈🫀

Expanding our preprint & with our first HCR (thx to @thelovelylab.bsky.social!).

Congrats all! #devbio #zebrafish #CHD @cupediatrics.bsky.social @cudevbio.bsky.social
rdcu.be/eIJm5

Cell-type-specific functionality encoded within the intrinsically disordered regions of OCT4 - Nature Communications Here they perform a systematic dissection of OCT4 and reveal how intrinsically disordered regions can be used to serve specific functions during reprogramming and embryonic development. This can be exploited to engineer more efficient and specific reprogramming factors.

Hot off the press!

Cell-type-specific functionality encoded within the intrinsically disordered regions of OCT4

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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.

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 🧵 👇

Contractile fibroblasts form a transient niche for the branching mammary epithelium Nature Communications - Fibroblasts represent a heterogenous cell population but how their differences reflect their plasticity and origin is not fully understood. Here, the authors map the origin...

So proud of the exciting story from my PhD student Jakub Sumbal on contractile fibroblasts shaping branching morphogenesis!
Fantastic collaboration with the lab of Zuzana Koledova in Prague!
@sumbalovakoledova.bsky.social

It just came out online, check it out here:
rdcu.be/eIIKD

Happy to share the Biodiversity Cell Atlas white paper, out today in @nature.com. We look at the possibilities, challenges, and potential impacts of molecularly mapping cells across the tree of life.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cell-extrinsic controls over neocortical neuron fate and diversity Cell-extrinsic cues are key for neocortical cell identity and diversity.

Ever wondered how robust cellular identity is to external perturbations? Here we disrupt cellular environmnent in vivo and in vitro, and find cell population specific sensitivities. Environment sculpts development yes, but not all cells are made of the same wood. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Single-cell multiome and spatial profiling reveals pancreas cell type–specific gene regulatory programs of type 1 diabetes progression Pancreatic cell types show changes in gene regulation and activity associated with T1D progression and risk.

A multi-omics overview of perturbations in the #T1D pancreas at the single cell level #islets www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Combinatorial BMP4 and activin direct the choice between alternate routes to endoderm in a stem cell model of human gastrulation Inge et al. show that human endoderm originates from two converging developmental routes with distinct dynamics and efficiencies yet similar developmental potential. Combinatorial activin and BMP4 sig...

1/7 Really happy to see my PhD work published in ✨Developmental Cell✨ today! We find human endoderm is specified by two developmental trajectories 🔀, and the choice between alternate routes is dictated by the combinatorial BMP4/Activin signalling. www.cell.com/developmenta...

Rocio - Shine Night Walk I am taking part in the Shine Walk in memory of my mother, who was my rock, the strongest guiding force in my life, who shaped who I am today and gave me the most powerful example to follow. She passe...

Walking through the night for Cancer Research UK 🌙✨ Every step helps beat cancer 💜 Please support with a donation if you can 🙏💫
fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/rocios-...

🔬 Researchers at #IBEC record for the first time the real-time 3D implantation of a human embryo. 

A major step forward in understanding fertility and improving assisted reproduction treatments.

👉 Published in @science.org #ScienceAdvances
🔗 Read the news: bit.ly/4oAHy0w

Pathologists have used nuclear & tissue shapes to diagnose #cancer for decades, but what is the molecular basis for this? In our latest work, we develop a computational pipeline to figure this out in #colorectalcancer! Check out 🧵& preprint #mechanobiology #stemcells www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

12 examples of how developmental biology research led to fundamental discoveries for biomedical research. There are many more! Download ppt & jpg versions on @socdevbio.bsky.social website. Use & modify as needed. Poster formats are also posted to print & hang in your lab!

Mechanochemical coupling of cell shape and organ function optimizes heart size and contractile efficiency in zebrafish Andrews et al. demonstrate that multiscale feedback between mechanical and chemical cues builds a functional heart to support zebrafish embryonic life. Cell recruitment and organ-scale forces drive tr...

Thrilled to bits to see our latest work online in Dev Cell! 🥳

We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n

tinyurl.com/cell-stretch

Postdoctoral Research Associate: Modelling Neural Crest Anomalies (mouse/human) - the Node The Liu lab is looking for a postdoc with a love of embryos and developmental biology! This post is part of an MRC-funded collaboration between Karen Liu’s lab at King’s College London and Marco Trizz...

Dev biologists! 3-yr postdoc position at King's, collaboration with Trizzino lab @marcotrizzino.bsky.social modelling CHD3 neural crest. We are looking for postdocs with mad embryology skills @the-node.bsky.social #developmental @ccrb27.bsky.social

thenode.biologists.com/jobs/postdoc...

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...

🆕🧪‼️
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...

Excited to share our latest work with @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social .

A global #cis-regulatory temporal program guides how spatial cues are interpreted in neural progenitors. We show how #space and #time can be integrated to generate cell type diversity in the #spinalcord.

Congrats to all authors.

Patterning of cell identities in the posterior E8.5 mouse embryo. Co-expression of mesoderm marker TBXT (blue) and neural marker SOX2 (green) identifies cells in the neuromesodermal (NMP) progenitor region at the intersection of their respective gene expression gradients. TBX6 (red) marks paraxial mesoderm and also marks sporadic mesoderm-committed cells emerging within the NMP region. LAMINB1 (white) marks the nuclear envelope of all cells. Credit: Matthew French.

Measuring properties of individual cells in relation to their neighbors in 3D tissues is challenging. @cellysally.bsky.social &co develop a computational toolkit to facilitate this, analyzing developmental patterning in mouse, chick & #Drosophila #embryo @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4lQMeNu

🧵Just out !
We reveal how 4 branched epithelia—mammary, lacrimal, salivary & prostate—use a conserved YAP–Notch–p63 circuit to self-organize during development & regeneration.
Here’s the story👇
authors.elsevier.com/c/1lM285Sx5g...
Work done in @frelab.bsky.social at ‪
‪ @institutcurie.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