Neha Ghosh

AJs maintain tissue integrity by maturing in response to actomyosin generated tension at cell–cell contacts. (A) AJs are formed in the apical region of polarised epithelial tissues. Subsequent figures show a top-down view of an x-y plane at the apical region. (B) Schematic defining the key components involved in cell–cell adhesion, as discussed in this Review. Cadherin–catenin complexes (CCCs) hold together the actin cytoskeletons of adjacent cells at regions of cell–cell contact. Clustering of CCCs forms AJs. (C) Pulling forces exerted on CCCs changes their bio-mechanical properties. The E-cadherin trans interaction changes from an X- (left) to a strand-swap (right) conformation and α-catenin recruits vinculin, which strengthens the binding of α-catenin to F-actin. Florette indicate catch bonds, which increase in lifetime with applied force (E-cadherin X dimer, α-catenin tail domain–actin and vinculin tail domain–actin). Created in BioRender by Winn, L., 2025. https://BioRender.com/l1sc933. This figure was sublicensed under CC-BY 4.0 terms.

In their Review, John James, Darius Köster and colleagues consider E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion, focusing on recent advances in our understanding how actin cortex dynamics affect adherens junction stability.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

Our Lab @ NCBS, Bangalore is hiring PhD students!

If you’re excited about cell & developmental biology, tissue mechanics, and imaging — come join us! We use C. elegans to uncover how forces shape organs 🧫🔬

CSIR/DBT/ICMR fellowship holders encouraged to apply!Apply 👉 lnkd.in/gr9EUHnp

#aECM at #CellBio2025 On Sunday, the Sundaram lab will have 2 posters on #Celegans aECM - boards 223 and 225

Epithelial Mechanics Fan Club - FocalPlane Epithelial Mechanics Fan Club - News

Meet the Epithelial Mechanics Fan Club @epimechfc.bsky.social
Nimesh Chahare @onenimesa.bsky.social and Julia Eckert @juliaeckert.bsky.social introduce us to the Epithelial Mechanics Fan Club.
Learn how you can get involved with this community: focalplane.biologists.com/2025/12/04/e...

The Larry Sandler Award recognizes excellent recent graduates who have completed a PhD in Drosophila research. The awardee will receive a fantastic opportunity to present the Larry Sandler Memorial Lecture at the 67th Annual Drosophila Research Conference in Chicago, IL! The deadline to nominate is December 15, 2025. Nominate Here Eligibility Any student completing a PhD in an area of Drosophila research between July 2024 and December 2025 is eligible. Students may be nominated by their thesis advisor, department chair, or supervisory committee member. Nominations Nominations may be submitted by the student’s thesis advisor, department chair, or supervisory committee member, and should include the following: Nominee's CV Nominee's thesis abstract of 1–2 pages A nomination letter directly answering the following questions: What are the main discoveries in the nominee's thesis? What are the intellectual and experimental contributions of the nominee to the project? How does the thesis work advance what was previously known in the field and to previous work from your lab?

Drosophila colleagues--Please submit nominations for the Larry Sandler Award. which recognizes excellent recent graduates who have completed a PhD in Drosophila research. Details are below and at this link:
genetics-gsa.org/drosophila-2...

Modulating the levels and activity of the retinal determination network is sufficient to induce the specification of distinct tissue fates in Drosophila Summary: Modulation of members of the retinal determination gene regulatory network and their co-factors in Drosophila eyes reveals that differential expression of transcription factors is sufficient ...

Excited to announce that the newest paper from my lab on the Drosophila visual system is out today!

Modulating the levels and activity of the retinal determination network is sufficient to induce the specification of distinct tissue fates in Drosophila url: journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...

Drosophila midgut tumor-induced insulin resistance systemically remodels lymph gland hematopoiesis during cancer cachexia Cancer cachexia involves systemic metabolic deregulation along with classical features of muscle wasting, lipolysis, and chronic inflammation. While tumor non-autonomous effects on peripheral organs a...

My 1st PhD student, Ujjayita's 1st preprint! We show how the niche-progenitor micro-environment & hematopoiesis is remodelled during tumor induced cachexia conditions in Drosophila!
#cancer #cachexia #Drosophila #hematopoiesis #signaling
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🚨 New preprint!
We built a single-cell atlas of 14 multilayered epithelia and revealed a conserved transcriptomic program guiding tissue architecture and fate composition. Our work brings decades of tissue-specific studies together into a unified evo-devo framework.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Hmx Protein's Effect On Fruit Flies' Photoreceptors and Info On The NFB Performing Arts Division Dr. Jens Rister (University of Massachusetts - Boston) Katelyn MacIntyre (National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division - Baltim...

It was an honor being interviewed about our new color vision project by the 'Eye on Vision' WYPL Memphis radio show! 🪰👀🧪
@umassboston.bsky.social
eyeonvision.blogspot.com/2025/11/hmx-...

My lab @poldresden.bsky.social is now CLOSED! The fabulous @sanikajah.bsky.social has left (defense soon). The lab @mbisg.bsky.social in SG is now 1yr old and growing!
PhD students apply here (Jan 12): www.mbi.nus.edu.sg/education/gr...
Undergrads (Jan 31): www.mbi.nus.edu.sg/education/mu...

New paper from the @rouxlab.bsky.social on Nature Communications! We study how membrane tension is spatially organized in cells. Using the mechanosensitive probe Flipper-TR to visualize tension across the plasma membrane of adherent cells and to dissect the conditions needed for a gradient to happen

The historc city center of Münster, famous for the Peace of Westphalia!

2/2 If you’re into #cellbio, cellular interfaces, #mechanobiology, #membranes, anything related, come to Münster, Germany, May 27–29!

www.uni-muenster.de/SFB1348/en/i...

Please spread the word. It’s a fantastic (and FREE!) meeting. And while you’re here, explore Münster… it’s worth it.

#Science

Ditipriya Mallick, Siddhartha Sankar Jana and colleagues discover that cellular elasticity drives mechano-adaptation against fluid shear stress.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

This artwork was inspired by the ancient Chinese legend of "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl," where two star-crossed lovers are reunited once a year by a bridge of magpies. Here, the Cowherd and Weaver Girl represent two non-interacting proteins (e.g., actin and YAP1), separated by the Milky Way—symbolizing the complex cellular environment. The magpie bridge, formed by STUPPIT components with Pup(E) as the body and Split-TurboID fragments as glowing wings, enables their connection. Soaring lanterns released from the bridge represent biotin-labeled proximal proteins (e.g., AMOT), illuminating the functional interactome between the once-distant proteins. Xie et al. demonstrate how the STUPPIT system acts as a molecular "magpie bridge," enabling proximity labeling and revealing functional interactomes between proteins that do not directly bind—just as the magpie bridge reunites the star-crossed lovers. Artwork by graduate student Xin Li.

Despite advances in #ProximityLabeling tools, we can't capture intermediary proteins that bridge two associated non-interacting proteins. STUPPIT is a novel method to label intermediary proteins between two non-interacting partners in signaling pathways @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4ab6YwQ

So called microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs) are not "organizing centers". They don't control their position (network center), nor MT orientation, length and shape (network shape). The actual organizers are MTs, molecular motors and regulators of MT +ends. MTOCs nucleate MTs.
Let's rename MTOCs.

Gorgeous website, Maik!

Prospective PhD students if you are looking to work on some exciting Developmental Biology questions combining some state-of-the-art microscopy, please consider joining the talented @maikbischoff.bsky.social

Tattoo ink induces inflammation in the draining lymph node and alters the immune response to vaccination | PNAS Despite safety concerns regarding the toxicity of tattoo ink, no studies have reported the consequences of tattooing on the immune response. In thi...

New @pnas.org
"This work represents the most extensive study to
date regarding the effect of tattoo ink on the immune response and raises serious health concerns associated with the tattooing" including reduced response to Covid vaccination
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The retina’s rhythm Calcium waves facilitate the emergence of sight

Check out my Perspective article “The Retina’s Rhythm” which accompanies an exciting paper by Claude Desplan in Science. I highlight his discovery that waves of calcium are required to finalize the honeycomb-like structure of the Drosophila retina.

www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....

Good job and best wishes, Shefali! 🎉

Super proud to be part of SFB1348 — and excited to share that I now officially have my own lab in Münster! 🎉🪰

We’ll study #cellbio & #morphogenesis, focusing on organ sculpting and #chirality in #Drosophila.

I’ll soon hire my first #PhD student — feel free to reach out!

#juniorPI #Science #devbio

Onwards and upwards! Congrats Maik 🎉

Well deserved, Ben! 🎉

Retinal calcium waves coordinate uniform tissue patterning of the Drosophila eye Optimal neural processing relies on precise tissue patterning across diverse cell types. Here, we show that spontaneous calcium waves arise among non-neuronal support cells in the developing Drosophil...

Congrats Ben, Claude, et al! A beautiful characterization of roles of Ca++ waves and gap junction functions in tissue patterning!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Attempt number seven at uploading this video of intermediate filaments in an enormous COS7 cell. I have a feeling the BlueSky compression will not do it any favors.

I am very excited to be organizing a session for postdocs (with focus on those in the job market). Be on the lookout for info and registration! 🐟🧪

SAVE THE DATE! Stoked to organize the 2026 Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting with @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, @lowelab.bsky.social, and Shelbi Russell. Come learn about Biomedicine, Biomechanics, and the Biosphere, August 24-28, 2026. Registration dates, etc., coming soon! Please RT

#aECM Cub starts next week Nov 18 with talks on patterning the Drosophila lens, mouse tectorial membrane, and C.elegans cuticle furrows. You can still sign up for access using the link below.

How do four-eyed fish see above & underwater? 🌤️🌊 Our new preprint reveals how Anableps rewired its retina for dual vision- evolution at work 👁️👁️ Kudos to @perezlouise.bsky.social @josanesousa.bsky.social @keylapruett.bsky.social + team!
🔗 tinyurl.com/3a8r9xy5

Volume 152 Issue 20 | Development | The Company of Biologists

Development that lasts a life time. Check out the 2025 special issue of @dev-journal.bsky.social on Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues

journals.biologists.com/dev/issue/15...