Elena Scarpa & The Squeezable Cells Lab

Have you ever wondered how cells in developing embryos manage to squeeze through tiny spaces? And how do they cope with mechanical stresses imposed by surrounding tissues? Check out our paper, now out @natcellbio.nature.com : www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How do macrophages regulate their phagocytic capacity? We discovered that the nucleus plays a crucial part! 🧵 We found that apoptotic bodies-containing phagosomes move towards and mechanically perturb the nucleus of Drosophila embryonic macrophages in vivo. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

@squeezycellslab.bsky.social @hannamariahakkinen.bsky.social & co show that zebrafish neural crest cells encounter increased tissue-scale confinement along the body axis. Despite nuclear deformation, migrating cells experience neither nuclear envelope rupture nor increased DNA damage. bit.ly/47S0v7z

How do long-lived multipotent stem cells cope with mechanical stress in vivo? We found that neural crest cells are protected from mechanical stress during migration in confined tissue environment. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🚨 New work from our lab: ESR1 fusions don’t just alter ER signalling — they fundamentally change how the protein behaves in the nucleus. We show they form chromatin-linked condensates that reshape nuclear organisation and transcription. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Call for abstracts: the UK Cell Motility Club is back! Keynote speaker : Caren Norden 🐠 Fantastic early career talk opportunity and lovely community! Register here: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/zNNCMfD5jF

We are sponsoring the 2026 UK Cell Motility Club symposium: 🗓️ 17 December 2026, 10:00-19:00 📍King’s College London To find out more and register, visit: cytoskeleton.wixsite.com/londoncellmo... Thanks to @matthias-krause.bsky.social & @squeezycellslab.bsky.social for organising

🪲🪰 Our preprint is out! This was a team effort with @wolframponisch.bsky.social, @matthewabenton.bsky.social and Ewa Paluch. We asked whether Drosophila and Tribolium use the same cell behaviours to fold their embryos during gastrulation. 🧵👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Want to know more about nuclear adaptations in cell migration? Then check out our short review from our amazing PhD student You-Hsuan Liu : www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

ICYMI

📢 We are looking for a Junior Group Leader to join us at @institutcurie.bsky.social! Having joined the department just over a year ago, I can honestly say that it is an exceptionally stimulating and supportive scientific environment, filled with outstanding colleagues — all in the heart of Paris.

We are thrilled to announce our new preprint from the wonderful @sorayavillaseca.bsky.social Ever wondered how cells squeeze through tiny spaces in embryos? Neural crest cells use Dynein to transport their nucleus along microtubules. Check out the preprint!! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Hot from the #preprint Leukocyte + #CellMigration + physics = cool Microtubules enable torque-based steering during dendritic cell migration. Actomyosin contractility is required for noise-modulation strategy used by neutrophils. Full @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Now (finally) #published @natcomms.nature.com: "A multi-tiered mechanical mechanism shapes the early neural plate" @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de A great collaboration of experiment and theory to explain the tissue flows shaping the #zebrafish neural plate! doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61303-1

Very excited to share our latest preprint! We looked at loss and gain of function, innervation, reinnervation, and in vivo axonal transport in a FUS-ALS mouse model! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... @uclqsion.bsky.social @beccasimkin.bsky.social @andrewtosolini.bsky.social @frattalab.bsky.social

👋 Are you looking for a postdoc position? Do you think microtubules are fascinating? Then we might have the job for you! 2-year funded postdoc to join our lab! 👉 deadline 20/06 👇 check it out www.godinholab.com

This Friday, UK Cell Motility Club symposium in Cambridge, UK: exciting PhD student and Postdoc speaker line up! A few last minute spots available. Organised by @squeezycellslab.bsky.social and @matthias-krause.bsky.social cytoskeleton.wixsite.com/londoncellmo...

No plans for this Friday? Come join us at the UK Cell Motility Club, last chance to register cytoskeleton.wixsite.com/londoncellmo...

Experimental embryology postdoc available in my lab at the @biology.ox.ac.uk @ox.ac.uk working on the evolution of vertebral counts. Reach out if you’re passionate about EvoDevo, enjoy lab work and microscopy and are into or could get into cichlid fishes. Deadline on the 16th June. Please share!

Very excited to share the first preprint from the lab: www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... We investigated neural crest migration all the way from head to tail of the Zebrafish embryo and we found their nuclei suffer dramatic deformations. Want to know of they cope with feeling squeezed? 🐟🐠🐟

#CellBiology: “The centrosome is exposed to mechanical forces and can even break when cells move through narrow or complex environments,” says Renkawitz. #LMU researchers led by Jörg Renkawitz have discovered how these cells protect a sensitive organelle, the centrosome, from being destroyed.