Rangan Lab

The Wnt co-receptor Arrow-LRP5/6 is required for Planar Cell Polarity establishment in Drosophila Wnt-signaling, via β-catenin or the planar cell polarity (PCP) branch, is crucial for development, tissue homeostasis, and linked to many diseases. LRP5/6, arrow ( arr ) in Drosophila , is the obligat...

In the 2nd preprint from @mlodziklab.bsky.social, Weber et al. show that LRP5/6/arrow, the Wnt/bcatenin signaling specific co-receptor, is also required for Wnt/planar cell polarity establishment, a challenge and eye-opener for the Wnt field.

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

A novel conserved protein associates with the IFT-A complex to mediate nuclear translocation of β-catenin in Wg/Wnt-signaling Wingless (Wg)/Wnt signaling is critical throughout development and tissue homeostasis and associated with many disease states. Canonical Wg/Wnt-signaling is mediated by β-catenin (Arm in Drosophila ) ...

Two exciting preprints from @mlodziklab.bsky.social lab. In the first preprint, Vuong and Mlodzik describe a novel, essential factor for bcatenin translocation to the nucleus, a big step forward to understand nuclear bcatenin localization. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The @fly-eds.bsky.social is having its general assembly this saturday at 13:30 at #EDRC2025 , please join us to discuss our society and to find out more about @flybase.bsky.social and the current funding crisis

There are only 8 days left to register to @edrc2025.bsky.social and we would like to thank all our sponsorss! We start acknowledging the support received from @biologists.bsky.social to #EDRC2025 Thank you!

Registration is officially open for the 2026 EMBO Drosophila Meeting in Crete 🪰☀️. This flagship meeting brings together researchers from around the world to share discoveries, foster collaborations, and celebrate the power of Drosophila in advancing biology. Consider applying!

Molecular and Developmental Biology of Drosophila The principal theme of the EMBO Workshop is the Molecular and Developmental Biology of Drosophila. Supported by EMBO over four decades, this will be the 24th biennial “Crete meeting”. With the a…

EMBO meeting on "Molecular and Developmental Biology of Drosophila" 21 – 27 June 2026
Registration is now open!
Deadline next November 3rd!
meetings.embo.org/event/26-dro...

Fig. 3. Mrtfa depletion leads to reduced F-actin levels and increases apical domain size in the neural plate. (A) One dorso-animal site of eight-cell embryos was injected with control MO (Co MO) or Mrtfa-MOsp (40 ng each) with lineage tracer MyrGFP (10 pg) and allowed to develop until control embryos reached stage 16-17. (B-E) Neural plate was dissected from the injected embryos. Neural plate images from the CoMO- (B-B″) or Mrtf-MOsp (C-C″) -injected embryos at low (B,C) or high (B′,B″,C′,C″) magnification at the level of hindbrain. Midline is indicated with a white dashed line (B′,B″,C′,C″). Scale bars: 100 µm for B,C; 50 µm for B′,B″,C′,C″. (D) Quantification of F-actin intensity at the bicellular junctions (BCJs). Injected (GFP) and uninjected (Uni.) cells were scored in the neural plate at the hindbrain region, as indicated. N=numbers of junctions scored. (E) Quantification of apical domain size. N=numbers of cells scored. Kruskal–Wallis test: ****P<0.0001; n.s., not significant. The box plots indicate the median and quartiles.

Actin up: Mrtfa regulates actomyosin and apical constriction This Research Highlight showcases the work from Keiji Itoh, Olga Ossipova, Sergei Y. Sokol:

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Here's the NIH's proposed budget - from $48 billion to $27 billion. NIAID, current ~$7 billion cut to ~$4.2 billion.

The proposed 15% cap on indirect costs remains.

Again, these budgets are passed, and our leadership in science, technology, and innovation is gone.

www.hhs.gov/sites/defaul...

The end of US leadership in science, technology, and innovation.

All in one little table.

A tremendous gift to China, courtesy of the GOP.

nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...

YouTube video by Sen. Adam Schiff A Message to Scientists

Science is under attack. The NIH, the NSF, and our research universities.

So today, I have a message for America's scientists:

youtu.be/MeoZDPy5cIY?...

This Is Going To Kill Your Career Betül Kaçar started out as a biochemist. But then she found her calling: investigating some of the hardest questions in evolutionary biology.

www.sciencefriday.com/segments/the...

@hypothesisfund.bsky.social
@kacarlab.bsky.social

“Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”

—Mahatma Gandhi

All of NIH funding to Northwestern University is frozen. This pause includes noncompeting approved funding, new and competing grants with fundable scores. No reimbursements for money already spent have been received since March. This situation is rarely reported so please Please get the word out!

YouTube video by Amanpour and Company Breakthrough Prize-Winning Biochemist on the Deadly Cost of Funding Cuts | Amanpour and Company

David Liu @harvard.edu beautifully articulates the criticality of basic science funding for developing revolutionary therapeutics like life-saving base editors 👏

youtu.be/8YhJM6zxYDw?...

Gavis named next Chair Elizabeth (Liz) R. Gavis, the Damon B. Pfeiffer Professor in the Life Sciences in the Department of Molecular Biology and Associated Faculty in the Program in Quantitative and Computational Biology, h...

Congratulations to the next Chair of the Dept. of Molecular Biology: Elizabeth (Liz) R. Gavis, the Damon B. Pfeiffer Professor in the Life Sciences and Assoc. Faculty in the Program in Quantitative and Computational Biology. Her term begins on July 1, 2025. molbio.princeton.edu/news/2025/ga...

Congrats Yukiko!

Organizers - 66th Annual Drosophila Research Conference Visit our website to learn more.

Drosophila folks at the @genetics-gsa.bsky.social Fly meeting please take some time to thank the amazing organizers who put in a lot of hard work:
genetics-gsa.org/drosophila-2...

Special thanks to GSA folks especially the tireless Suzy Brown (who appears to run entirely on diet Mountain Dew)

Drosophila follicle showing retrotransposons (pink & yellow) expressed in somatic cells infecting the oocyte

1/ Transposable elements are often called "jumping genes" because they mobilize within genomes. 🧬
But did you know they can also jump 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 cells? 🤯
Our new study reveals how retrotransposons invade the germline directly from somatic cells.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A short thread 🧵👇

Sign up & spread the word to trainees about the 🪱C. elegans🪱 mentor match program!
They're also setting up peer-mentoring groups at ALL stages (even faculty!). Peer mentors have helped me keep my sanity & resolve in the tough times, and cheered me on in the good times. 🙌 Sign up to find your own!

TORC1-driven translation of Nucleoporin 44A promotes chromatin remodeling and germ cell-to-maternal transition in Drosophila https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.14.643309v1

New preprint from our lab!

We are in a biotech space race, cutting off basic science via slashing NIH and NSF funding robs the US of our competitive advantage: early innovation.

Judge Blocks Trump’s Executive Order Ending Federal Support For DEI Programs A federal judge has blocked a sweeping executive order from President Donald Trump that sought to end government support for programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

THIS IS AWESOME - shame on universites and even foundations (looking at you
@hhmi.bsky.social) for your cowardly anticipatory obedience!!!! www.huffpost.com/entry/us-tru...

““This crisis — and I’m not exaggerating by calling it a crisis — has already consumed one funding cycle…But if this block to publishing in the register continues on much longer, it’s going to swallow two funding cycles, and that will put many labs out of business.” @labonnelab.bsky.social

Trump Administration Stalls Scientific Research Despite Court Ruling Using an arcane law, officials have effectively delayed funding from the National Institutes of Health, leaving medical studies in jeopardy.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/s...

Follow!

SPO11 dimers are sufficient to catalyse DNA double-strand breaks in vitro - Nature A biochemical system recapitulates the hallmarks of meiotic double-strand break formation, with mouse&nbsp;SPO11 catalysing break formation in the absence of any partners and remaining covalently atta...

🥳Just published @nature.com. Over 25 years after the discovery of SPO11 as the enzyme responsible for initiating meiotic recombination, we finally succeeded in reconstituting its DNA cleavage activity.🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Federal Register hold makes ‘end run’ around court pause on NIH funding freeze NIH-related updates to the Federal Register, which are required for the scheduling of study sections and advisory councils, are on hold indefinitely, according to an email reviewed by <i>The Transmitt...

@ossoff.senate.gov @hankjohnson.house.gov

Emory researcher here 👋

By cancelling grant review and council sessions, the administration is in open defiance of court rulings to unfreeze NIH grants. They are playing games and impeding health research!

www.thetransmitter.org/funding/fede...

Abrupt Dismissal of NIH and NSF Staff Undermines Government Efficiency