Amro Hussien

Membrane potential mediates the cellular response to mechanical pressure Cells in tissues need to know when to start growing and when to stop growing to quickly heal wounds but prevent tumorous overgrowth. Membrane potential allows cells to sense physical forces, including those from neighboring cells, and thereby regulates growth.

Now online! Membrane potential mediates the cellular response to mechanical pressure

Congratulations to the new cohort of 28 EMBO Young Investigators! They are joining an international network of more than 800 life scientists – Welcome!

Read the press release here:
https://www.embo.org/press-releases/twenty-eight-group-leaders-become-embo-young-investigators/

Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson

Fits well with Dorothy Thomson’s speculation “Who Goes Nazi?”

“the frustrated and humiliated intellectual, the rich and scared speculator [..] the labor tyrant, the fellow who has achieved success by smelling out the wind of success—they would all go Nazi in a crisis.“

harpers.org/archive/1941...

Ethylene modulates cell wall mechanics for root responses to compaction - Nature Soil compaction traps ethylene around roots, which causes transcriptional upregulation of Auxin Response Factor1, resulting in decreased root cortical cell wall thickness and thereby promoting root radial expansion.

Nature research paper: Ethylene modulates cell wall mechanics for root responses to compaction

go.nature.com/4rmhdEI

The strategic use of multiple models clarifies a longstanding controversy in pulmonary fibrosis

Dean Sheppard & team establish fibroblast proliferation as an important driver (and potential target) in pulmonary fibrosis: www.jci.org/articles/vie...

Motivational video for #MigrationMovieMonday. A persistent 4T1 breast cancer cell squeezing itself through a tight constriction despite undergoing repetitive nuclear envelope rupture. Credit: Kristen Nedza @weillinstitute.bsky.social

Handwritten notes are more useful for studying and committing to memory than typed notes, ultimately contributing to higher achievement for college students.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Dynamic transcriptional and epigenetic changes define postnatal tendon growth Author summary Tendons provide essential connections within our musculoskeletal system, transmitting the force from muscle to bone to enable movement. Concomitant with skeletal growth, tendon developm...

Terrific new work on tendon growth by Heather Dingwall @dingwallaby.bsky.social and @jennagalloway.bsky.social in collaboration with my lab. Congrats Heather and all authors! journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...

Tech Capitalists Don’t Care About Humans. Literally. It’s not just a figure of speech to say tech titans are indifferent to humanity. From Peter Thiel to Elon Musk, many are adherents of a worldview that envisions humans being replaced by digital post-humans and sees this as progress.

It’s not just a figure of speech to say tech titans are indifferent to humanity.

From Peter Thiel to Elon Musk, many are adherents of a worldview that envisions humans being replaced by digital post-humans and sees this as progress.

Single-cell susceptibility to viral infection is driven by variable cell states Not all cells that can be infected by a virus become infected with that virus. Single-cell clone tracing reveals intrinsic cell states with variable expression patterns that increase susceptibility to...

So awesome to have this great paper from Sam Reffsin and Sara Cherry out! In it, we use retrospective clone tracing to show that there are particular single cell states that are more susceptible to viral infection (both SARS-CoV-2 and flu)!

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

The Ascendance Of Algorithmic Tyranny | NOEMA As today’s platforms become all-powerful, the metaphors we use to describe our digitally infused world exemplify a new, stealthier form of domination that is emerging.

“The authoritarianism of digital modernity operates through faceless collectivity. Its commands arrive not as decrees but as design choices. Its tyrannies are those of the nudge, the notification, the algorithm.”

— @pettertornberg.com & @uitermark.bsky.social

Memories Change. But Can We Change Them On Purpose? Neuroscientists are manipulating memories in mice in an effort to develop treatments for brain disorders.

Memories shift and change over time. Now, researchers say they can be manipulated even further—and that could actually help patients with brain disorders.

With transcriptomic and functional data, @lucamasin.bsky.social et al. @labmoons.bsky.social show that local glycolysis supports injury-induced axonal regeneration. rupress.org/jcb/article/...

📕 In Cellular Neurobiology collection: rupress.org/jcb/collecti...
#SfN25

And here is the story after peer review. This work highlights our current approach, which is to use Piezo channels to uncover new areas of biology that are shaped by mechanical forces: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

That New Hit Song on Spotify? It Was Made by A.I. Aspiring musicians are churning out tracks using generative artificial intelligence. Some are topping the charts.

A couple of years ago, a smattering of A.I. tracks went viral for using tricks like replicating the voices of pop stars, including Jay-Z and Drake. Now we’re in the midst of a full-blown A.I. music moment, @chaykak writes. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/m6CdDF

Even Nobel Prize Winners Deal With Imposter Syndrome Neuroscientist Ardem Patapoutian immigrated to the US, found belonging in science, and did groundbreaking work on sense of touch.

“Even when I was an assistant professor, I would say things like, ‘I’m a researcher.’ I wouldn’t say I’m a scientist.” Nobel Laureate Ardem Patapoutian made groundbreaking discoveries about the sense of touch. But he didn’t always have a sense of belonging in science.

Portrait of Sara Wickström standing in a modern building. The image is part of a turquoise graphic with the Max Planck Society logo above and the text “Sara Wickström, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine – ERC Synergy Grant 2025” below.

🚀 Exciting news! ERC Synergy Grant of €8.5 million to Sara Wickström @sarawickstrom.bsky.social, Daniel St Jonston @gurdoninstitute.bsky.social and Ewa Paluch @universitypress.cambridge.org! This highly interdisciplinary project will boost our understanding of tissue biology. #ERCSyG @erc.europa.eu

Microtubule forces drive nuclear damage in LMNA cardiomyopathy - Nature Cardiovascular Research Amiad Pavlov, Heffler, et al. demonstrate that stress transmitted to the cardiomyocyte nucleus by the microtubule cage drives LMNA-associated cardiomyopathy and may represent a promising therapeutic t...

Research | Amiad Pavlov, Heffler et al. demonstrate that stress transmitted to the cardiomyocyte nucleus by the microtubule cage drives LMNA-associated cardiomyopathy and may represent a promising therapeutic target.

doi.org/10.1038/s441...

rdcu.be/eOeTA

Jason Buenrostro stands behind a podium speaking to an audience.

Broad has launched the Biology of Adversity Project, led by
@jbuenrostro.bsky.social a 2023 @macfound.org fellow, to uncover how adverse life experiences can inflict molecular “scars” in the genome and body and increase risk of heart disease and other disorders. Learn more: broad.io/BAP

NEW from me:

Political hostility, high visa fees and (in the case of the UK) stagnant incomes are making the UK and US less attractive destinations for top international talent.

That steep decline in the appeal of moving to the US after 2016 is 👀

From early disease detection to advanced therapies, bioengineering and nanomaterials are revolutionizing medicine. In this exclusive EMBC 2025 interview, Professor Dame Molly Stevens, a world leader in biomaterials research, shares how her team is developing innovative materials that improve diagnostics, enable regenerative medicine, and create smarter therapeutics. Discover how these breakthroughs are making healthcare more accessible worldwide, reducing diagnostic costs, and shaping the future of personalized medicine. Plus, learn why interdisciplinary collaboration across chemistry, physics, and computer science is key to solving some of the most complex health challenges. What You'll Learn in This Video: ✔ How biomaterials improve disease detection and therapy ✔ The role of nanotechnology in regenerative medicine ✔ Why affordability and accessibility in diagnostics matter ✔ Cutting-edge research in brain-interactive materials ✔ The vision for the next decade of bioengineering innovation Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:18 Meet Professor Molly Stevens 00:30 How biomaterials impact healthcare 01:05 Ensuring equal access to diagnostics 01:53 Next-generation diagnostics and affordability 02:29 Future outlook: Advanced therapies and brain-interactive materials #BiomedicalEngineering #BioMaterials #Nanotechnology #HealthcareInnovation #EMBC2025 #MedicalDiagnostics #RegenerativeMedicine #IEEEEMBS Next-Gen Biomaterials in Medicine with Prof. Dame Molly Stevens | EMBC 2025 Interview by EMBS TV

At #EMBC2025, Dame Molly Stevens shared how bioengineered materials are transforming healthcare - from affordable diagnostics to advanced therapeutics and regenerative medicine.

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id8x8f8IcDU?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social

#Bioengineering #Biomaterials

Piezo1 regulates the mechanotransduction of soft matrix viscoelasticity Nature Communications - Matrix viscoelasticity regulates cell behavior in a stiffness-dependent manner. Here, the authors reveal that the mechanosensitive channel Piezo1 transduces soft matrix...

Excited to share our new paper in Nature Communications! We show how Piezo1 and the molecular clutch work together to sense viscoelastic cues in stem cells. Grateful to my mentors and co-authors from @uofglasgow.bsky.social & @ibecbarcelona.eu who made this possible! Check it out: rdcu.be/eK8d4

Spatial quantitative metabolomics enables identification of remote and sustained ipsilateral cortical metabolic reprogramming after stroke - Nature Metabolism Wang et al. report a workflow to perform quantitative mass spectrometry imaging and provide insight into spatial metabolic remodelling undergone in the mouse brain upon ischaemia.

RESEARCH | G Wang, M Giera, @trabelink.bsky.social et al (LUMC)

Workflow: Perform quantitative MS imaging and provide insight into spatial metabolic remodeling in ischemic mouse brains 🧪

The Surprisingly Lifelike Behavior Of Mindless Material | NOEMA New ways of studying the origin of life are leading to a better understanding of consciousness and the mind.

The surprisingly lifelike behavior of inanimate chemicals & systems forces us to reconsider our assumptions about where minds reside, @conorfeehly.bsky.social writes.

#biology #cognition #chemistry #ool

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 🧵 👇

Real-time molecular recorders expose the inner lives of cells Gene-editing tools transform cells into record-keepers, capturing hidden timelines of health and disease.

Gene-editing tools transform cells into record-keepers, capturing hidden timelines of health and disease

go.nature.com/4pBRRlh

We have developed a new workflow to map whole human organs at single-cell resolution, while integrating spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics.

We applied this workflow to map precancerous lesions of the fallopian tubes.

More here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The SNSF urges against cuts In its statement on "Relief Package 27", the SNSF speaks out against the proposed annual cuts of 10 percent.

The Federal Council wants to cut costs in the ERI sector despite widespread objections. Cuts of over 10 percent per year are planned for the SNSF over the next few years. Above all, this plan jeopardises the innovation potential and competitiveness of the Swiss economy. ⤵️ www.snf.ch/en/9a7Fhnojt...

Detailed transcriptomic analyses indicate that a subset of cardiomyocytes drives disease progression by expression of genes associated with sterile inflammation, likely downstream of nuclear envelope rupture and activation of cytosolic DNA sensors, independent of cGAS/STING.

In this Viewpoint, Adam Zweifach explains how to calculate how many cells to analyze per sample to achieve reasonable statistical power in #microscopy experiments. rupress.org/jcb/article/...

📕 In #Reproducibility and Best Practices in Cell Biology: rupress.org/jcb/collecti...