Pedro Rocha

Programmed meiotic errors facilitate dichotomous sperm production in the silkworm, Bombyx mori The goal of meiosis is typically to produce haploid gametes (eggs or sperm). Failure to do so is catastrophic for fertility and offspring health. However, Lepidopteran (moths and butterflies) males pr...

So excited to share this preprint from the Rosin lab in collaboration with the Hawley lab and @eelcotromer.bsky.social on moth spermatogenesis! We investigate the meiotic errors that occur during the formation of apyrene sperm (that have no DNA) in silkworms!

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

Thrilled to share our work using live imaging to understand how Epiblast (future embryo proper) and Primitive Endoderm (future extraembryonic tissues) cell fates segregate in the preimplantation mouse embryo. Gargantuan effort led by amazing @rpkimyip.bsky.social, David Denberg and Denis Faerberg!

SUMO operates from a unique long tandem repeat to keep innate immunity in check Abstract. The SUMO pathway mainly functions to repress innate immunity in myeloid cells. Inactivating sumoylation triggers a strong, noncanonical, type I i

🚨🚨🚨 New collaborative results with Anne Dejean (@institutpasteur.bsky.social ) and very talented PhD student Amandine Goffeney. academic.oup.com/nar/article/... Trying to understand how SUMO represses innate immunity and IFNB1, we discovered an element with a unique function in 3D 🧬🧬🧬 organization

Group Leader - Genome Biology Unit Are you ready to lead groundbreaking research in Genome Biology? Join us at EMBL! We are seeking a motivated scientist to lead an independent research group addressing exciting and original biological...

To all post-docs: The Genome Biology dept ‪@embl.org
has an Independent faculty position. Fantastic place to set up your lab –great package: core funding, fantastic Ph.D. students, cutting edge core facilities & great colleagues. Closing date Sept 19th
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...

Thanks to @riyavsinha.bsky.social in my lab, the IGV browser will natively support dynseq (dynamic sequence tracks) in an upcoming release. These tracks are very useful to directly visualize base-resolution scores (e.g. contribution scores from ML models, conservation etc). 1/

How do enhancer-gene contacts relate to transcription activation? In mouse embryonic stem cells, a combo of STED, oligoFISH & RNA FISH shows that 3% of Dppa3 alleles transcribe. For these, enhancers and promoters come closer (panel E). Stumberger ... Leonhardt & Harz www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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...

Thrilled to share the story stemming from my PhD!
We used mESC neural differentiation, genome editing and bulk & single-cell approaches to uncover how ZIC2 controls early neural fate by playing a dual and sequential regulatory role as a promiscous pioneer and a selective lineage-specific activator.

Epigenetic priming of mammalian embryonic enhancer elements coordinates developmental gene networks - Genome Biology Background Embryonic development requires the accurate spatiotemporal execution of cell lineage-specific gene expression programs, which are controlled by transcriptional enhancers. Developmental enha...

🚨 New paper alert 🚨
I am excited to share our new work on epigenetic enhancer priming in early mammalian development
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Fantastic collaboration with Wolf Reik’s team, with key contributions from many others, led by the excellent Chris Todd.
Short 🧵

The nuclear periphery confers repression on H3K9me2-marked genes and transposons to shape cell fate - Nature Cell Biology Marin et al. report the role of lamin proteins and the lamin B receptor (LBR) in chromatin positioning at the nuclear periphery. Knockout of all lamins and LBR in mouse embryonic stem cells leads to h...

Another paper bluetorial! Today: how does the spatial location of genes influence their function? (1/n) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Lamin B1 and LAP2β resist cytoskeletal force to maintain lamin A/C meshwork organization and preserve nuclear integrity | Molecular Biology of the Cell The nuclear lamins are extremely long-lived proteins in most cell types. As a consequence, lamin function cannot be effectively dissected with temporal precision using standard knock-down approaches. ...

The nuclear lamina strengthens the nucleus and organizes the genome. So what happens when you acutely degrade it in living cells? Not what we thought! (1/n)
www.molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/...

NEVER!

Never let them tell you that your complex scientific discovery can not be linked to an outdated popular reference via an absurdist cartoon.

Congratulations to @pedroprocha.bsky.social and his team at the NIH.

silly is exactly what we were going for

Breaking a chromatin domain boundary by deleting a single CTCF motif impacts development Chromatin domain boundaries are crucial for development by spatially constraining enhancer activity to ensure precise spatiotemporal gene regulation. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Chakraborty e...

For more Pedromics:
www.facebook.com/pedromics/
www.instagram.com/pedromics_/?...
Sadly i dont have the cartoon from 18 years ago.

Check out also the very nice preview by Junjun Ding:
www.cell.com/developmenta...

It had been 18 years since i last "commissioned" my college buddy @pedromics.bsky.social Our paper showing dramatic phenotypes upon loss of a single CTCF motif gave us the best excuse to do it again. We recruited MC hammer to deliver the main message: U Can't Touch This!
tinyurl.com/4rz8kusj

Our paper is now out in Molecular Cell!

Check the thread in this former post:

www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

JSCBB Biotech Building in Boulder, CO

Are you bravely deciding to do a postdoc in the US? And also interested in some combination of genomics, immunology, and transposons? If so, consider applying to my lab at the BioFrontiers Institute in Boulder, Colorado!

jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...

🧪🧬 #TESky #interferosky

I'm proud to announce the latest release of 🧬 #Oxbow 🏹, with new features to make NGS data analysis more powerful, efficient, and "composable".

Learn more at: oxbow.readthedocs.io

🚨Our latest work on selfish centromeres is published @currentbiology.bsky.social 🐭🧬We found that the spindle checkpoint contributes to non-Mendelian segregation! Huge congrats to our lab manager, Zaak Walton, who led the project🎉

Free link:
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lQzN3QW8S...

🚨 Ultimos días para registrarse en el Curso Nacional de Genética 2025 (deadline 15 julio)
😲 Top speakers y registro gratuito

🧬 Organizado por @segenetica.bsky.social junto con Conexión Genoma
👥 Coordinadores: @aruizherrera.bsky.social &
& myself

🔗 Info y programa: segenetica.es/curso/cng2025/

Enhancer adoption by an LTR retrotransposon generates viral-like particles, causing developmental limb phenotypes - Nature Genetics Activation of an LTR retrotransposon inserted upstream of the Fgf8 gene produces viral-like particles in the mouse developing limb, triggering apoptosis and causing limb malformation. This phenotype c...

Finally out! 🥳 Our paper showing how a transposable element (TE) insertion can cause developmental phenotypes is now published @natgenet.nature.com 🧬🦠🐁
Below is a brief description of the major findings. Check the full version of the paper for more details: www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02248-5

Liebenberg syndrome severity arises from variations in Pitx1 locus topology and proportion of ectopically transcribing cells - Nature Communications Here the authors show that reducing enhancer-promoter distance at the Pitx1 locus increases proportion of Pitx1 forelimb expressing cells, worsening skeletal defects in Liebenberg syndrome. They also ...

Our work bridging enhancer-promoter proximity to phenotypic outcomes in vivo is out! Shout out to @olimpiabompadre.bsky.social, to Marie Kmita's lab, and to all the co-authors. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Grateful for the warm welcome @tifrhyderabad.bsky.social :) Thrilled to be part of this vibrant scientific community and eager to build an exciting research program!

Range extender mediates long-distance enhancer activity - Nature The REX element is associated with long-range enhancer–promoter interactions.

Our paper describing the Range Extender element which is required and sufficient for long-range enhancer activation at the Shh locus is now available at @nature.com. Congrats to @gracebower.bsky.social who led the study. Below is a brief summary of the main findings www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/

How do non-coding variants in enhancers lead to disease? Happy to share our recent work, led by @ewholling.bsky.social, in which we discovered that poised chromatin sensitizes enhancers to aberrant activation by non-coding mutations, contributing to disease. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/

Hey #2025ICDB folks! Do you have questions about publishing with Nature Communications? Curious about editorial careers?

I’ll be outside the poster hall from ~3:45-4:15 today and tomorrow. Come find me, or drop me a message if this time doesn’t work for you!

Timely TGFβ signalling inhibition induces notochord Nature - Through analysis of developing chick embryos and in vitro differentiation of embryonic stem cells, a study develops a method to generate a model of the human trunk with a notochord.

🚀🚀 I'm starting my own lab @ HKU ! !
The lab will be investigating how cells build complex tissues — with a focus on tissue boundaries, niche establishment, and many open questions sparked by our recent work on trunk-organoids rdcu.be/eqsho 🫡🫡

-Critical developmentally regulated enhancer-promoter loops
-Establishment of new gene expression, not maintenance
-Genes with multiple distant enhancers
-In physiologic or developmentally relevant models
-Strong perturbations and rigorous technology
-Disruption linked to severe disease phenotypes

Non-canonical enhancers control gene expression and cell fate in human pluripotent stem cells Enhancers are key gene regulatory elements that ensure the precise spatiotemporal execution of developmental gene expression programmes. However recent findings indicate that approaches to identify en...

Delighted & excited to share our latest preprint on non-canonical enhancers in human pluripotent stem cells, the result of a fantastic and fun collaboration with @guenesdoganlab.bsky.social‬:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🧵 below