The actin-binding/-bundling protein #anillin can also interact with microtubules to crosslink the two types of filaments and slide them along each other @marileend.bsky.social @gijsjekoenderink.bsky.social and colleagues www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

We also give examples of imaging and functionalization to study actin-related processes.

We detail the equipment and protocol for microwell manufacture, as well as characterization and quality control.

We have used many microwells to confine biochemical reactions in our recent studies. We wanted to share the protocol for preparing and characterizing microwells; this protocol is now published here : www.frontiersin.org/journals/cel... @manuelthery.bsky.social @lblanchoin.bsky.social

🔬 From JCB’s July issue (rupress.org/jcb/issue/22...): a PtK2 cell plated on a micropattern and injected with low doses of soluble actin (orange) and tubulin (blue) in order to generate speckles along the corresponding filaments. From @manuelthery.bsky.social group (rupress.org/jcb/article/...).

BEHOLD! One of Earth's greatest lineages of life: the lil wiggle arm guys, Meteora. These single-celled critters, originally found in deep-sea sediments, are SO DIFFERENT from other lifeforms on Earth that they're likely in their own kingdom (as in, the Animal Kingdom, the Plant Kingdom etc). 🧪🌿

Interested in reconstitution methods? Love cell biology? Check out the accepted manuscripts in our Research Topic on Reconstitution Methods in Cell Biology! We are still open for submissions so if you're writing something exciting this summer, send it here: www.frontiersin.org/research-top...

Registration and abstract submission for the 2025 SFP Physics & Life days are now open! The meeting will be held on October 2-3 at the Institute Jacques Monod, Paris. Deadline: September 5. phys-life-2025.sciencesconf.org?lang=en @sfp-physique.bsky.social @ijmonod.bsky.social

The 2025 @cnrs.fr medal are out! Bronze medals for early career researchers: congrats to Aurélie Tchoghandjian at our institute @inp-marseille.bsky.social, and to @alexandra-colin.bsky.social who was nominated by the Cell biology section 🎉

Chaque année, le CNRS récompense les femmes et les hommes qui ont le plus contribué à son rayonnement et à l’avancée de la recherche. Les médaillés d’argent, de bronze et de cristal individuels viennent d’être annoncés. 👏 Félicitations à toutes et tous ! 👉 cnrs.fr/fr/actualite... #TalentsCNRS

Mark your calendars for May 18-22, 2026- in Roscoff, Brittany, for the next iteration of the Developmental Biology Conference Jacques Monod!

We wrote a review for the Biochemical Journal on the importance of using macroscopic reconstructions at the network level to better understand key issues related to the actin cytoskeleton: portlandpress.com/biochemj/art...

Congrats to Thomas D. Pollard (Drubin Lab) who received the 2025 Connecticut Medal of Science! 👏🧪 @drubin.bsky.social ctcase.org/thomas-d-pol...

Anne-Betty N'diaye from our #CytoMorphoLab received the best poster prize for her cell monsters at @embo.org workshop on Cellular Matters !

In @jcb.org: Unlike eggs & mitotic cells, in adherent interphasic cells the centrosome is NOT positioned by a balance of forces along #microtubules, but by cell shape organization around the #centrosome: rupress.org/jcb/article/... @lblanchoin.bsky.social @manuelthery.bsky.social

Unlike eggs & mitotic cells, in adherent interphasic cells the centrosome is NOT positioned by a balance of forces along #microtubules, but by cell shape organization around the #centrosome: rupress.org/jcb/article/... @lblanchoin.bsky.social @manuelthery.bsky.social @gelinmatthieu.bsky.social

deadline early bird registration approaching soon for ACTIN ASSEMBLY FOR INTRACELLULAR FUNCTION 2025 aaif2025-szeged.hu/registration/

Registration has started for the conference "Emerging Trends in the Physics of the Cell" in memoriam of Erich Sackmann at TU Munich from October 15-18 2025 www.cpa.tum.de/cpa/conferen...

Life by mimicking the dynamics of the cytoskeleton ? From cytoskeleton investigation to living architectures, by @manuelthery.bsky.social from @cea.fr Paris at Advances in #Bioinspiration. @cea.fr - @inserm.fr - @cnrs.fr Bases Moléculaires et Structurales du Vivant #BMSV

A new study sheds new light on the use of actin in cells. The researchers have revealed that the constant renewal of cellular actin architectures reduces competition between them and fosters their diversity. @alexandra-colin.bsky.social @manuelthery.bsky.social syntheticcell.eu/coexisting-d...

Join us for this small, intensive workshop in the remote Alpine town of Arolla, where we will explore the dynamics of living systems across scales, from the cytoskeleton to embryos. Let’s dive into how cellular and tissue-scale dynamics shape life itself! meetings.ls2.ch/arolla2025

Unique opportunity to join the CytoMorpho Lab (in Paris ❤️) as a postdoc to work on the self-organization and polarization of reconstituted networks made of microtubules, motors and actin filaments in vitro. Experience required. Please Repost 🙏 thanks !

New preprint out 🔥🔥 on my postdoc work with @manuelthery.bsky.social and @lblanchoin.bsky.social about how we can create sustained dynamic steady states of actin network inside microscopic wells that contract "forever" without collapsing! A thread 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#RésultatScientifique🔎 Les cellules organisent leur architecture grâce à un subtil équilibre entre compétition et renouvellement. Découvrez comment ces mécanismes régulent la vie cellulaire dans cette étude fascinante ! 🔬🧬 🤝 @alexandra-colin.bsky.social @cnrsalpes.bsky.social

Our study about actin competitive networks is now published in Current Biology! @currentbiology.bsky.social authors.elsevier.com/a/1kPbA3QW8S...

Destruction is key to life. It allows system permanent reassembly and the sharing of ressources. Competition is less fierce when sharing ☮️ @alexandra-colin.bsky.social captured this in a minimal system 🤩 See her recent publication in @currentbiology.bsky.social authors.elsevier.com/a/1kPbA3QW8S...

On my way to #CellBio2024 in San Diego! I will talk in the "Physical Biology of the cytoplasm" subgroup on saturday at 12.15pm in Room 33B! Come if we want to hear about our last results on competitive networks!

@alexandra-colin.bsky.social from the Cytomorpholab with @lblanchoin.bsky.social and @manuelthery.bsky.social will talk about the scaling of actin architecture. www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Force balance of opposing diffusive motors generates polarity-sorted microtubule patterns www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

And we are on Le Monde for the frenchies in the audience!

The Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC) is seeking to recruit new group leaders in cell biology. The application deadline is February 28, 2025 www.i2bc.paris-saclay.fr