The Berro lab

Author Tom Pollard: “I hope readers will enjoy movies from our 1970 JCB paper showing dramatic cytoplasmic movements in cell-free extracts. Electron micrographs in the paper related these movements to the assembly of actin filaments. This addendum is a tribute to my very generous mentor Sus Ito.”

#Addendum to 1970 paper, “CYTOPLASMIC FILAMENTS OF AMOEBA PROTEUS: I. The Role of Filaments in Consistency Changes and Movement,” includes eight video sequences originally recorded on 16-mm films. No technology was available at the time to include this data. 🎞️ rupress.org/jcb/article/...

#Actin

We are excited to announce a tenure-track or tenured faculty position in Computational Biophysics and Biochemistry, exploring the intricate molecular and cellular processes and the complex interactions of their macromolecular components!

apply.interfolio.com/177120

If you’re interested in exploring the relationship between chromatin organization and epigenetic memory using chromatin tracing microscopy, my group is recruiting a talented PhD student 🥳

Here is NIGMS.

This reflects Jon Lorsch's push away from R01s and toward MIRA awards (R35s). While there are some advantages to the R35 mechanism, there are downsides to "putting all of your eggs in one basket" as some discovered this year.

8/n

Few spots left on our @bcube-tud.bsky.social organised hashtag #Symposium:
Engineering Life 2025: Origin and Function of Mechanical Forces in Biology ⚙️🧬

📆 September 1-3, 2025
📍 Steigenberger Hotel de Saxe, Dresden

Register now (Deadline 31 July 2025): engineering-life-dresden.de

Key numbers in cell biology

Having a sense of scale helps to think more rigorously and realistically about biological systems.

Comic. [block quote] “Far better an approximate answer to the *right* question, which is often vague, than an *exact* answer to the wrong question, which can always be made precise.” -John W. Tukey, The Future of Data Analysis (1962) [caption] Happy Approximate Birthday to John Tukey, author of my favorite statistics quote, who was born 110.000 years ago sometime this week.

Tukey

xkcd.com/3104/

Engineering Life 2025: ORIGIN AND FUNCTION OF MECHANICAL FORCES IN BIOLOGY Engineering Life 2025, biological forces, force spectroscopy, measuring forces, developmental forces, molecular motors, forces in morphogenesis, cytoskeleton, DNA mechanics, bionanotechnology

📢Conference alert📢

Only one week left to register for the Engineering Life 2025 Symposium at Dresden September 1-3. This year's edition focuses on the function of mechanical forces in biology.

engineering-life-dresden.de

Just a few days left to register to the next FYIM workshop on modeling in cell biology and AI! Experimentalists and modelers at all career stages are welcome!

The registration for the FYIM workshop on Modeling in the age of AI is now live! sites.google.com/uci.edu/2025...

The registration for the FYIM workshop on Modeling in the age of AI is now live! sites.google.com/uci.edu/2025...

Our latest research is out 📄 !

This study provides an interaction map of Sla2 & the regulatory proteins Sla1 & Pan1, predicted by AI modeling & confirmed by molecular biophysics.

@lucasdefelipe.bsky.social @meytallandau.bsky.social
@emilgustavsson.bsky.social
@embl.org
@cssbhamburg.bsky.social

Graduate student studying the #CYTOSKELETON? Want to connect with cytoskeletal leaders in the field? The second round of CYTOSKELETON SCHOLARS applications is now open! Apply to be a #CytoskeletonScholar!

Wondering how/whether AI can be helpful in your mathematical models in cell biology?
Whether you are a biologist, physicist, engineer, mathematician, or computer scientist, join us for the next Finding Your Inner Modeler, August 7-8 at UC Irvine!
Registrations open soon!

Join the Berro Lab to gain experience in molecular mechanobiology, biophysics, and bioengineering! What you will work on: Develop new force sensors Quantify forces exerted by cells, tissues and organoids on their environment Discover new biology Develop a drug discovery pipeline

Are you graduating this Spring with a BS or MS and interested in Mechanobiology? Join the Berro lab as Postgraduate Associate! More information and applications here:
shorturl.at/3xmjx

Ready to apply? Submit your materials by March 3, 2025 to Associate Editorial Board Chair, Justin Parreno at: jparreno@udel.edu #Cytoskeleton #ScienceOpportunities #Trainees (4/4)

Exciting opportunity for Graduate student trainees in cytoskeletal research!
Apply to be a Cytoskeleton Scholar! 🌟 Selected by the Associate Editorial Board, scholars will gain recognition & networking opportunities. (1/4)

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you want to use them in your favorite protein, we’re happy to help!

… and, at last, a few grants! We’re recruiting synthetic biologists and cell engineers! DM me for more details

It already led to cool discoveries, a pending patent, [the start of] a startup… (doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114725; doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi1535; patents.google.com/patent/WO2024006993A1)

Despite countless rejected grant applications, tireless efforts of super postdoc (and soon to be faculty) Yuan Ren, in collaboration with Jie Yang from Yongli Zhang’s lab, and many collaborators, made the magic happen!

This work was incepted around the time I started my lab in 2013, inspired by previous work from Yongli Zhang’s lab.

Since our sensors do not use a FRET reporter, they are very small and can be inserted in virtually any protein without disrupting its function. We and collaborators have inserted them in 20+ proteins in fungi, nematodes and mammals, with ~90% success!

Genetically encoded mechano-sensors with versatile readouts and compact size Mechanical forces are critical for virtually all fundamental biological processes, yet quantification of mechanical forces at the molecular scale in vivo remains challenging. Here, we present a new st...

Molecular force measurements in vivo are notoriously difficult. We present a new class of programmable force sensors based on engineered coiled-coils, with modular readouts, including fluorescence and luminescence. doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Report: Every dollar of NIH research funding doubles in economic returns Research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) generated $2.46 in economic activity for every $1 of funding in 2023, a total of $92.9 billion, according to an

Terrific piece summarizing a recent report: Every dollar of NIH research funding doubles in economic returns

www.fiercebiotech.com/research/rep...

Photo of me and Julien Berro

Wrapped up #CellBio2023 with some very cool talks on biosensors, optogenetic tools, and more. Plus one more meetup with my former advisor @berrolab.bsky.social

Screenshot from: https://huygens.science.uva.nl/

Like our other web apps, #ezReverse is accessible at:
huygens.science.uva.nl

Another great collaboration with Jie Yang and Yongli Zhang!

Here's the link to his paper on force gradients published last week:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...