David Brückner

Pleasure to announce the program of my new series of lectures at the College de France in Nov-Dec. Continuing on the theme of Biological information. I will focus on the computational aspects, building on David Marr's tri-level of analysis in biological systems. YouTube link sent when it starts.

Our paper is on the cover of @cp-devcell.bsky.social . Image: embryonic murine salivary-gland explants stained for fate determinants; p63 (cyan) and HES1 (yellow). Thanks to everyone involved.
doi.org/10.1016/j.de...

Had a lot of fun at our first group retreat in Graubünden🇨🇭🏔️🌄

Bioelectricity in Morphogenesis Bioelectricity is likely as old as life itself. From the moment the first proto-cell was enclosed in a lipid bilayer, a membrane potential arose. Thus, one can expect that bioelectrical activities inf...

New Review! #devbiol #bioelectricity #CellBiology #tissueregeneration

In our new @annualreviews.bsky.social piece, we explore how bioelectricity is generated, sensed & translated into responses that sculpt tissues, guide growth & enable tissue regeneration.

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

New job, new preprint! We found that embryo implantation can be understood as active wetting! Embryos from older mothers have trouble implanting because they are too contractile and viscous. Check out the wonderful thread (and movies!) by @katecavanaugh.bsky.social.

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

Are you interested in a PhD in the area of "Mechanisms of translational control during embryogenesis?" Apply now for a PhD @mpi-cbg.de! Overview of all participating RGLs: imprs.mpi-cbg.de/5761/researc...

Cell Migration Seminars Cell Migration Seminars every Tuesday at 16:00 BST.

If anyone ever wants to brush up on a lot of cell migration concepts don't forget we have several wonderful scientists who have given talks previously in cell migration seminars. I find it so comforting to go look at old videos, maybe someone else who will do as well!!
youtube.com/@cellmigrati...

Come join us in Basel! @biozentrum.unibas.ch is an amazing place to start your group.

New preprint 🎉
What began as Frieder Johannsen’s bachelor thesis in the @zwickergroup.bsky.social (which I had the pleasure to supervise) evolved into our latest paper: “Chemically Active Liquid Bridges Generate Repulsive Forces” — unlike passive ones, which attract.
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2509.18777

Contractile fibroblasts form a transient niche for the branching mammary epithelium Nature Communications - Fibroblasts represent a heterogenous cell population but how their differences reflect their plasticity and origin is not fully understood. Here, the authors map the origin...

So proud of the exciting story from my PhD student Jakub Sumbal on contractile fibroblasts shaping branching morphogenesis!
Fantastic collaboration with the lab of Zuzana Koledova in Prague!
@sumbalovakoledova.bsky.social

It just came out online, check it out here:
rdcu.be/eIIKD

EEE meeting is BACK! Early Embryogenesis & Epigenetics conference in Berlin 02/2026.
Checkout great program and over 12 slots for (not so) short talks for submitted abstracts!. Early registration now open -
w.molgen.mpg.de/embryo2026

Now out in final published form - with a new title "Mechanical control of cell fate decisions in the skin epidermis" and simulations/quantifications! See below for thread of how unbalanced tensions can bias fate choices in minimal 3D models of tissues! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Happy to share that my PhD has finally taken the shape of a paper! ✨

Huge thanks to all authors, especially @davidbrueckner.bsky.social & @ehannezo.bsky.social for leading the modeling and @raimonsunyer.bsky.social & @xaviertrepat.bsky.social for their invaluable supervision.

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Time for a thread!🧵 How different is the molecular organization of thylakoids in “higher” plants🌱? To find out, we teamed up with @profmattjohnson.bsky.social to dive into spinach chloroplasts with #CryoET ❄️🔬. Curious? ..Read on!

#TeamTomo #PlantScience 🧪 🧶🧬 🌾
elifesciences.org/articles/105...
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Tenure-track Position in Biophysics at Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Physics Location: Pittsburgh, PA Open Date: Sep 19, 2025 Description The Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon University invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics. The appointment is intended to be at the Assistant Professor level, but exceptional candidates at a higher level may also be considered. We seek outstanding candidates with a strong record in cellular and subcellular biophysics. Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, uncovering how key characteristics of living systems arise from the interplay between supramolecular cellular structures, how the emergent cellular circuitry defines goals and enables robust decision making, and how metabolic resources are allocated. This encompasses understanding of how information is learned, stored, transduced, and processed across subcellular structures. Applicants with theoretical, data science, or experimental backgrounds within biological physics are encouraged to apply. The ideal candidate will strengthen and extend research programs of current biophysics faculty in the Department of Physics and collaborate with broader life science activities across many departments at CMU and the wider Pittsburgh area. More details on Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/174360

I am super excited to announce that we have a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics open in the Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon! 🧪

Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360

PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!

Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:

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This was super fun collaboration with @xaviertrepat.bsky.social, @raimonsunyer.bsky.social, @ehannezo.bsky.social with experiments led by @icfortunato.bsky.social.

@biozentrum.unibas.ch @istaresearch.bsky.social

Simple cell motility on adhesive gradients - Nature Physics Haptotaxis — a mechanism of sensing adhesive gradients by motile cells — was thought to rely on complex mechanochemistry. It turns out that this mechanism is simply based on the difference of adhesive friction at cell front and rear.

Also check out the News & Views by Alex Mogilner & Mariya Savinov: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This coupling of frictional gradient sensing with persistent polarity dynamics leads to complex migration trajectories on 2D gradients

Together, this demonstrates that haptotaxis is more than linear motion to the top of the hill: complex, nontrivial behavior can emerge without complex regulation

Simulations of this model with just 3 parameters quantitatively capture the experimental statistics

Theoretically, we show that more adhesions at the front vs back lead to differential friction & thus more effective clutching of actin flow to the substrate

Yet persistent polarity dynamics drive the cell down the gradient - leading to anti-haptotactic phases

Experimentally, led by @icfortunato.bsky.social, we find that cells typically migrate up gradients (haptotaxis), but interestingly continue past the maximum of protein density, leading to anti-haptotactic migration down the gradient.

Why would that happen?

How do cells navigate up gradients of adhesive proteins?
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Termed "Haptotaxis", this effect is ubiquitous in cell migration, but it's mechanism was poorly understood

We show that passive friction directs cells & explains complex trajectories on gradients

👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Graphic with a blue background and light green dots. The text 'call for applications' appears in green, and 'Ausschreibung' in white. A white arrow on the right points diagonally upward.

Early-career researchers: want to run your own lab? 🌟Max Planck Research Groups offer 6+ years, up to €2.7M in funding, open-topic freedom, team support & tenure-track opportunities. Intrigued? 😃Apply by Oct 14, 2025! www.mpg.de/max-planck-r...

Really excited to share our latest work led by @mattiaubertini.bsky.social and @nesslfy.bsky.social: we report that cohesin loop extrusion creates rare but long-lived encounters between genomic sequences which underlie efficient enhancer-promoter communication.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A🧵👇

Signaling-dependent refinement of cell fate choice during tissue remodeling in Drosophila pupal wings Herszterg et al. show that during morphogenesis of the Drosophila pupal wing, a wave of Notch signaling activity updates cell fates to ensure robust and precise patterning of wing veins.

We only had a very minor contribution to this story with Alexis, but definitly worth a reading for those interested by patterning, precision and refinment. Nice combining of quantitative live imaging, modeling and optogenetics to dissect vein patterning dynamics
www.cell.com/developmenta...

📣 New preprint: Mechanochemical feedback, tissue geometry & rigid-body dynamics initiate rotational migration in Drosophila via spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking. A mechanism generalizable to closed epithelia.
@sreejithsanthosh.bsky.social
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Please allow me to introduce... our new preprint 🎉 Together with Michael Zhao, Anna Erzberger and Alexander Aulehla, we investigate pattern formation due to aggregation in confined systems.

You can find it at arxiv.org/abs/2509.08533

@michaelzhao.bsky.social @erzbergerlab.bsky.social

A ring of cells deforms into a triangular keyhole in just 15 minutes. Meet the hindgut, a model for boundary-driven morphogenesis!

Out now in @pnas.org at doi.org/10.1073/pnas... with @zhaoshh.bsky.social, Alex Jacinto, Eric Wieschaus, Stas Shvartsman, @lepuslapis.bsky.social (1/8)

Gene Network Organization, Mutation, and Selection Collectively Drive Developmental Pattern Evolvability and Predictability The historical order in which mutations appear during evolution determine the evolutionary trajectory of gene regulatory networks and influence how developmental patterns change and diversify over tim...

Fresh from the press💥 We asked what happens when you evolve gene regulatory networks computationally at scale. Do general principles of GRN evolution jump out? Is the process predictable? Read on to find out @prxlife.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk @ucl-ipls.bsky.social 👉 journals.aps.org/prxlife/abst...

Sign outside the waddington building

My slide with waddington’s landscape

It was fun talking about Waddington’s landscape today in the Waddington Building of the University of Edinburgh! 😁

Thank you Linus Schumacher for the invitation!