Julia Eckert

Mechanical forces can affect the way tissue grows. Ideally, we want to characterize them without interfering with the processes we are studying. Is there a way to achieve this?

I am @borgesaugust.bsky.social
Welcome to my stress inference tutorial!
#EpithelialMechanics

Spatiotemporal segmentation of contraction waves in the extra-embryonic membranes of the red flour beetle - BMC Bioinformatics Background In this paper, we introduce an image analysis approach for spatiotemporal segmentation, quantification, and visualization of movement or contraction patterns in 2D+t and 3D+t microscopy rec...

New paper out now! 🎉 We tackle the challenge of quantifying novel contraction waves observed in the extra-embryonic membranes of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum.

Open Access: doi.org/10.1186/s128...

#Bioinformatics #Tribolium #DevelopmentalBiology #ImageAnalysis

📢 New preprint !
Please check if you are interested in the comparison between 2d and 3d nematic theories 🤔

I show that the 2d description can lead to artefacts on curved surfaces, and I propose a thin film description of nematic shells with full 3d orientation !

This was a funny summer project 😊

Exciting News! 🥳 Our Epithelial Mechanics Fan Club website is now live! 🎉
👉 epithelialmechanics.github.io

Discover our #EpithelialMechanics threads and get to know our amazing delegates behind them.
Would you like to share your story? Please DM us!

Now out in @biophysj.bsky.social with open access and for the special issue dedicated to Erich Sackmann: our model for mechanochemical signal propagation in cell layers. Led by Dennis Wörthmüller from @institutcurie.bsky.social and implemented with discontinuous Galerkin FEM. doi.org/10.1016/j.bp...

Nematic cell alignment directs calcium waves https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.20.683494v1

Cells dynamically adapt their nuclear volumes and proliferation rates during single to multicellular transitions Tumour development and progression are associated with biophysical alterations that manifest across multiple spatial scales, from the subcellular to multicellular tissue scale. While cells can dynamic...

How do cells adapt their volumes when they proliferate and form a multicellular mass in 3D? If you have wondered about this or work with 3D in-vitro systems, then you will be happy to read our paper now on bioRxiv!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

See the thread 🧵 below for more information.

Our ForSys method to infer the mechanical state of a tissue in space and time is published now in @cp-iscience.bsky.social !
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

(1/10)

1/ 🎉Excited to share our new preprint @vignjeviclab.bsky.social @davidbrueckner.bsky.social :

"Self-organization of tumor heterogeneity and plasticity"
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Tumor heterogeneity and plasticity drive metastasis and relapse. How is tumor patterning coordinated?

A thread👇

Non-canonical cytokinesis driven by mechanical uncoupling via nematic flows and adhesion-based invagination Cleavage - the series of rapid cell divisions that follow fertilization - marks the onset of metazoan development and represents a deeply conserved evolutionary process. Across animals, two principal ...

Non-canonical cytokinesis driven by mechanical uncoupling via nematic flows and adhesion-based invagination

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

Borges, A., & Chara, O. (2024). Peeking into the future: inferring mechanics in dynamical tissues. Biochemical Society transactions, 52(6), 2579–2592. #EpithelialMechanicsReview
buff.ly/sntsjqb

Synthetic mechanotransduction Nature Reviews Bioengineering, Published online: 13 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s44222-025-00366-7Cells convert mechanical forces into biochemical signals through mechanotransduction, a process which can now be synthetically engineered. In this Review, we examine engineered artificial mechanotransduction mechanisms, from gene circuits responsive to mechanical cues to synthetic force-generating systems that reshape tissue behaviour and cellular function.

Synthetic mechanotransduction

Very nice paper on shear flows and nematic ordering in endothelial cells.
www.nature.com/articles/s41... #activematter #Mechanobiology

So: can a cell hold hands with itself…and do we care? YES and YES! Read on to learn WHY, HOW, and what this has to do with…PARIS (and tree-hugging)? Swansong of Dr. Anamika; Hannah Kim on drums; and fantastic undergrads (Margaret/Lauren) ! 1/n
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

1/ 🐣⚒️ To study mechanics, we need to apply prescribed forces - how can we do that in living tissues? I am @eigenp.bsky.social and in this thread I'll highlight our new approach for applying tension on epithelial tissues in vivo!

How to develop good research questions

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

Ablated monolayers

Harmonic fields and the mechanical response of a cellular monolayer to ablation arxiv.org/abs/2510.05193

Unlocking the Skin’s Natural Healing Power Researchers show that embryonic skin stem cells rely on a specialized mechanism to resist injury. The findings could lead to new strategies for repairing wounds

So excited to announce lab alumni Dr. Helen Mengze He and Liana Boraas work at @yalecvrc.bsky.social in collaboration with the Kaelyn Sumigray lab @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social is published today in @natcomms.nature.com and highlighted in Yale News! medicine.yale.edu/news-article...

Apical extracellular matrix regulates fold morphogenesis in the Drosophila wing disc Tissue folding is a fundamental process occurring in animal organ development. Here, we study the progression of fold shape and the underlying mechanics in the development of the Drosophila wing disc....

How are tissue folds stabilized during animal organ development? Our latest preprint helps to answer this question, using the fruit fly wing disc as a model doi.org/10.1101/2025.... @poldresden.bsky.social @mpipks.bsky.social @dfg.de @janafuhrmann.bsky.social @vicioms.bsky.social @mbisg.bsky.social

Cell tracking with accurate error prediction Mouse intestinal organoids with an H2B-mCherry reporter were used, gifted by N. Sachs and J. Beumer (group of H. Clevers, Hubrecht Institute). Organoids were grown embedded in membrane extract (BME, Trevigen) in medium consisting of murine recombinant epidermal growth factor...

Cell tracking with accurate error prediction
->Nature | More from Lil' Dr Glen at BigEarthData.ai

Charras, G. and Yap, A. S. (2018). Tensile forces and mechanotransduction at cell–cell junctions. Current Biology, #EpithelialMechanicsReview www.cell.com/current-biol...

Happy to share the last version of our story @currentbiology.bsky.social on the role of interfacial tension in mechanical cell competition led by @leovalon.bsky.social and Alexis Matamoro Vidal
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New preprint from the lab! We discovered a transient fluidization in the basal region of human forebrains by tracking microdroplets in cerebral organoids.This “basal fluidization”, absent in gorilla and mouse, may contribute to greater surface expansion in human forebrains
1/
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Robust pan-junctional reinforcement preserves the gut epithelial barrier under mechanical stress Epithelia are specialized tissue barriers that safeguard the organism's internal milieu from the hostile external environment, a function critically dependent on intercellular junctions. In the colon,...

Ever wondered how adult organs preserve epithelial barrier integrity while continuously exposed to mechanical stress? We tackled this question in our new preprint – led by our brilliant PhD student Vishnu Krishnakumar! (1/11)
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Mechanobiology across timescales - Nature Reviews Physics This Review explores how cells sense and respond to mechanical signals across timescales. By integrating mechanosensing at membranes, mechanotransduction in the cytoplasm, and nuclear reprogramming, it reveals a role of temporal dynamics in tissue development and disease.

Mechanobiology across timescales

A Review by Bo Cheng, Moxiao Li, Min Lin, Hui Guo & Feng Xu ⚛️🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Groundbreaking quantum-tunnelling experiments win physics Nobel John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis discovered quantum physics on a macroscopic scale, paving the way for quantum computing.

John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis have been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for demonstrating quantum physics on the macroscopic scale

go.nature.com/3WnEUhE

Mechanochemical waves in focal adhesions during cell migration Traction force and FAK signaling exhibit oscillatory temporal coupling in adhesive structures.

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

Fluorescence lifetime estimation: a practical approach using Flipper-TR FLIM Flipper-TR is a membrane dye sensitive to lipid packing widely used to probe membrane tension in live cells via fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). However, no consensus currently exists ...

🚨 New preprint out!
“Fluorescence lifetime estimation: a practical approach using Flipper-TR FLIM” with Tithi Mandal and @rouxlab.bsky.social
We benchmark and describe step-by-step Flipper-TR FLIM measurements across different set-ups and and strategies.

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

How do dynamic forces influence symmetry-breaking in embryonic development?

Hi, I’m @dr-rajendra-s-negi.bsky.social & in this thread, I’d like to introduce some aspects of the interdisciplinary research on tissue dynamics.

My entry for today’s #FluorescenceFriday: a pupal #Drosophila testis with muscles expressing
🔵 lifeact &
🔴 RFP-nls

Honored & grateful to receive an honorable mention at @healthcare.nikon.com Nikon Small World 🌍🔬✨

🔗 www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/20...

#NikonSmallWorld #Microscopy #ScienceArt