Li-Kun Phng

Divergent evolutionary strategies pre-empt tissue collision in gastrulation - Nature Flies have evolved two distinct strategies for managing mechanical stresses during embryogenesis: out-of-plane cell division in midges and transient out-of-plane tissue folding in fruit flies.

🪰Yu-Chiun Wang’s team & Univ. of Hohenheim group discovered how fly embryos solve the “tissue tectonic collision” that occurs in morphogenetic movements between tissues and why the #cephalicfurrow evolved, a longstanding mystery to developmental biologists.
In @nature.com
doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Tissues transition between solid & fluid states in development & disease; cytoplasm turns crowded or inert to literally 'solidify'. Any connections? Turns out nothing's known. @sameerthukral.bsky.social & @bipashadey29.bsky.social pulled this review off brilliantly with a conceptual synthesis.

@mvikkula.bsky.social

Another successful #leducq #ReVAMP meeting held at Orford, Canada! Great science, food and friendship... Thanks @ondinecleaver.bsky.social for hosting us and showing us the way up the mountain! A la prochaine!

Tiny molecular spirals in cells can scale up to control the twist and turn of entire tissues, an important step towards understanding left-right symmetry in tissues and organs.
buff.ly/2pSf3xS

Now published in @natcomms.nature.com! 🥳

👉 rdcu.be/eATn3

We developed image analysis tools to capture the nematic orientation field of 3D tissue surfaces. Tested on epithelial aggregates, zebrafish hearts, myoblasts on spheres & micro-vessels, we combined soft matter physics with exp. biology.

A fantastic week at the Mechanobiology Conference in Vietnam, filled with fascinating talks, fruitful discussions, and amazing people.

Huge thanks to the organizers and ICISE for making it all possible!

Missing @yuchiunwang.bsky.social in the group photo!

And many thanks to speakers from Japan: @satsawai.bsky.social, @ashindo.bsky.social, @sugimuralab.bsky.social, Takashi Hiiragi, Fumio Motegi, Tatsuo Shibata, Hirokazu Tanimoto, Satoshi Toda and Fumiko Toyoshima

Special thanks to @ybellaichelab.bsky.social, @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social, @herveturlier.bsky.social, Lance Davidson, Elisabeth Fischer-Friedrich, Madan Rao, Yusuke Toyama and Fengzhu Xiong for making the long journey to Japan. And to @rashmi-priya.bsky.social for making a special appearance!

Thanks to the generosity of #FujiharaFoundation and the excellent organization of Fumio Motegi and his team, the ' #Mechanics of Life Across Scales' symposium was held successfully at beautiful Awaji. We had 3 days of fantastic #mechanobiology talks with speakers from Japan, India, Europe and US.

Had the absolute pleasure of hosting the Leducq ReVAMP biannual meeting @riken-bdr.bsky.social in Kobe this spring! #endothelial #mechanobiology #vascularmalformations See you all again in Fall @ondinecleaver.bsky.social @mvikkula.bsky.social

Check us out @the-node.bsky.social !

📢 Mechanobiology Conference III: From Fundamental Research to Applications

📅 July 06-12
📍 ICISE Quy Nhon, central Vietnam

The registration and abstract submission is now open!

🔗 icisequynhon.com/conferences/...

Exploring the Uncharted Waters of Endothelial Tip Cell Migration: A Story of Aquaporins, Hydrostatic Pressure, and Angiogenesis - the Node Behind the Paper Story of “Combined forces of hydrostatic pressure and actin polymerisation drive endothelial tip cell migration and sprouting angiogenesis”.

Thank you @the-node.bsky.social‬ for inviting me to write a 'Behind the Story' piece on our recent study!

Exploring the Uncharted Waters of Endothelial Tip Cell Migration: A Story of Aquaporins, Hydrostatic Pressure, and Angiogenesis thenode.biologists.com/exploring-th...

Stoked to present our latest, superbly led by Chris et al & @torres-sanchez.bsky.social We tackled a fundamental problem – how tissues are patterned during development – found that geometry-constrained ECM fractures pattern the myocardium in the vertebrate heart 1/n www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Careers in Science—Perspectives of Women Researchers and Technical Staff

At #RIKEN BDR, women represent 10% of PIs, 31% of researchers, 38% of students and 74% of technical staff. On #IDWGIS last month, we celebrated their achievements and contributions to research at BDR. www.bdr.riken.jp/en/news/bdr-... #internationalwomensday

Zebrafish study reveals that, along with actin polymerisation, hydrostatic pressure underlies the push of endothelial tip cells into new territory

📹: Igor Kondrychyn et al RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Japan in @elife.bsky.social

➡️: bpod.org.uk/archive/2025...

Morphogenesis: Fluid transport comes to the fore Proteins that allow water to move in and out of cells help shape the development of new blood vessels.

Chuffed to find out that our work was featured as an Insight article in @elife.bsky.social elifesciences.org/articles/106.... Thank you Sean Sun and colleague for highlighting our work!

Proteins that allow water to move in and out of cells help shape the development of new blood vessels.
buff.ly/41n6ii0

What an honor to host @itaiyanai.bsky.social at RIKEN-BDR, Kobe! From learning Night Science creativity, to see them come alive with Day Science rigor, Itai truly demonstrated the "yes, and" attitude in person! Thank you for your great energy, passion and generosity! Can't wait to have you back!

Water gives cells a push in blood vessel formation RIKEN researchers have shown that that hydrostatic pressure is one of two mechanisms that control endothelial cell migration during angiogenic sprouting in zebrafish

Read the Research Highlight here! www.riken.jp/en/news_pubs... @RIKEN BDR

Combined forces of hydrostatic pressure and actin polymerization drive endothelial tip cell migration and sprouting angiogenesis Investigation of Aquaporin water channels unveils water inflow and build-up of hydrostatic pressure in endothelial tip cells as a novel mechanism of endothelial cell migration and blood vessel formati...

Happy to announce that the final version of our paper on #endothelial cell #migration #mechanobiology, #angiogenesis, #hydrostaticpressure is out on @elife.bsky.social doi.org/10.7554/eLif... !! In our revised paper, we show that disrupted osmotic gradient and water inflow impair tip cell migration!

Excited to host @itaiyanai.bsky.social at RIKEN BDR, Kobe over the next few days! Looking forward to learning about "Tails" and how to use Night Science "Tales" to supercharge creativity in science! Thank you Itai for accepting our invitation!

Excited to announce that we will be holding another #mechanobiology across scales symposium this year in beautiful Awaji Island #Japan! We have a star-studded lineup of speakers and it's free participation (free accommodation and food!)! Register here: www.igm.hokudai.ac.jp/85th-fujihar...