Ronen ZAIDEL-BAR
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
Laboratory website
Zaidel-Bar Cell Adhesion Lab
What is axon guidance and the growth cone?
What is axon guidance and the growth cone? Axon guidance is an important step in neural development. It allows growing axons to reach specific destinations and ultimately form the complex neuronal networks throughout the [...]
What are Motor Proteins?
What are Motor Proteins? Motor proteins, such as myosins and kinesins, move along cytoskeletal filaments via a force-dependent mechanism that is driven by the hydrolysis of ATP molecules (reviewed in [1]). Nucleotide hydrolysis and [...]
How do motor proteins transport cargo along the cytoskeleton?
How do motor proteins transport cargo along the cytoskeleton? Along with providing structural support to the cell, and transmitting force signals, cytoskeletal filaments also provide cells with a network of ‘tracks’ that can be [...]
What is Myosin?
What is Myosin? An Introduction to the Myosin Superfamily of Proteins Myosin I has unique tail domain(s) relative to other myosin members which allows myosin I to bind to membrane lipids or to more [...]
How is stress fiber assembly regulated?
How is stress fiber assembly regulated? Tension-dependent actin polymerization and assembly of stress fibers is influenced by many factors (reviewed in [1][2]), including differences in substrate composition [3], rigidity [4][5][6] (reviewed in [7]), cell [...]
What steps are involved in the myosin powerstroke?
What steps are involved in the myosin powerstroke? Each myosin motor protein possesses ATPase activity and functions in a cyclical manner that couples ATP binding and hydrolysis to a conformational change in the protein. [...]
Ronen Zaidel-Bar
Visiting Faculty
Currently Visting
6-12 Nov 2018
Office: T-Lab, Level 5
Research Areas
Cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion, Regulation of actomyosin contractility and dynamics, C. elegans development, mechanics and molecular mechanisms of morphogenesis
Research Interests
- How do specific cytoskeletal proteins contribute to the organization and function of cell adhesion and actomyosin structures?
- How are signals processed within the “adhesome” and “contractome” to arrive at the appropriate cytoskeletal arrangement for a given cell state?
- How do adhesion sites and the cytoskeleton sense and respond to external mechanical forces?
Biography
Dr Zaidel-Bar obtained his Ph.D. working with Prof Benny Geiger (Weizmann Institute of Science) on the role of force in regulating cell-matrix adhesions. Their work first focused on single proteins and evolved to encompass the entire adhesome network. In his Postdoctoral training with Prof Jeff Hardin (University of Wisconsin – Madison) Dr Zaidel-Bar switched from studying cells in culture to employing the genetic model organism C. elegans for the study of cell-cell adhesions during development. Dr Zaidel-Bar was attracted to Singapore by the opening of MBI and was awarded the Singapore National Research Foundation Fellowship for promising young investigators.
Education
PhD Weizmann Institute of Science
Recent Publications
- Bertocchi C, Alegría JJ, Vásquez-Sepúlveda S, Ibanez-Prat R, Srinivasan A, Arrano-Valenzuela I, Castro-Pereira B, Soto-Montandon C, Trujillo-Espergel A, Montenegro-Rojas I, Deguchi S, Owen GI, Kanchanawong P, Cerda M, Motta G, Zaidel-Bar R, and Ravasio A. Systematic AI-assisted screening of the cadhesome to map epithelial monolayer mechanics. Cell Commun Signal 2026;. [PMID: 42399739]
- Ray S, Agarwal P, Nitzan A, Nédélec F, and Zaidel-Bar R. Actin capping protein regulates actomyosin contractility to maintain germline architecture in C. elegans. Development 2023;. [PMID: 36897576]
- Avivi Kela S, Sethi K, Tan PY, Suresh D, Ong HT, Castaneda PG, Amin MR, Laviv T, Cram EJ, Faix J, and Zaidel-Bar R. Tension-dependent RHGF-1 recruitment to stress fibers drives robust spermathecal tissue contraction. J Cell Biol 2022; 222(2). [PMID: 36574264]
- Chen Z, Oh D, Biswas KH, Zaidel-Bar R, and Groves JT. Probing the effect of clustering on EphA2 receptor signaling efficiency by subcellular control of ligand-receptor mobility. Elife 2021; 10. [PMID: 34414885]
- Hu S, Grobe H, Guo Z, Wang Y, Doss BL, Pan M, Ladoux B, Bershadsky AD, and Zaidel-Bar R. Reciprocal regulation of actomyosin organization and contractility in non-muscle cells by tropomyosins and alpha-actinins. Mol. Biol. Cell 2019;:mbcE19020082. [PMID: 31216217]
- Desai SK, Padmanabhan A, Harshe S, Zaidel-Bar R, and Kenney LJ. Salmonella biofilms program innate immunity for persistence in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2019;. [PMID: 31160462]
- Bouffard J, Cecchetelli AD, Clifford C, Sethi K, Zaidel-Bar R, and Cram EJ. The RhoGAP SPV-1 regulates calcium signaling to control the contractility of the C. elegans spermatheca during embryo transits. Mol. Biol. Cell 2019;:mbcE18100633. [PMID: 30726159]
- Priti A, Ong HT, Toyama Y, Padmanabhan A, Dasgupta S, Krajnc M, and Zaidel-Bar R. Syncytial germline architecture is actively maintained by contraction of an internal actomyosin corset. Nat Commun 2018; 9(1):4694. [PMID: 30410005]
- Agarwal P, and Zaidel-Bar R. Principles of Actomyosin Regulation In Vivo. Trends Cell Biol. 2018;. [PMID: 30385150]
- Chen Z, Oh D, Biswas KH, Yu C, Zaidel-Bar R, and Groves JT. Spatially modulated ephrinA1:EphA2 signaling increases local contractility and global focal adhesion dynamics to promote cell motility. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2018;. [PMID: 29866846]
Lab Members
MBI welcomes new 2021 graduate students
The research community at MBI is delighted to welcome these new students in January 2021, when they will be starting their lab rotations, and planting the seeds for many exciting collaborative interdisciplinary research projects during their PhD.
Alokendra Ghosh
Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellow, Li Group
Tan Zi Yi Rachel
Graduate Student, Low Group
Shadame Yeo Shuet Ting
Research Apprentice, Low Group
Arulchelvan SO Vijayakumar
Research Assistant, Kanchanawong Group
Clarissa Bernice Quah
Alumni, Yu Group
Wang Haiyang
Senior Research Fellow, Li Group
The mechanical editor
A recent study led by Dr. Shaobo Zhang and MBI Principal Investigator Associate Professor Timothy Saunders describes how periodic filopodial retraction caused by the contractile activity of transient Myosin II clusters at the cell leading edge ensures precise matching between primitive heart cells during heart development in Drosophila embryos. Learn more
A molecular brake
Recent study led by MBI Research Fellows Pan Meng and Ti Weng Chew and Principal Investigator Associate Professor Low Boon Chuan has revealed a role for BNIP-2 protein in scaffolding GEF-H1 and RhoA, following microtubule disassembly, and has described how this scaffolding is important for RhoA-dependent regulation of cell migration. Learn more
MBI is seeking applications from outstanding candidates for faculty positions
MBI is seeking candidates with a commitment to both independent and collaborative interdisciplinary research for multiple tenure-track faculty positions at all levels.
MBI welcomes new Principal Investigator, Chii Jou Chan
MBI would like to welcome Chii Jou (Joe) Chan as a new Principal Investigator starting in January 2021, with a joint appointment as Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Science, NUS.
Building new research partnerships: MBI welcomes Michael Leverentz
At MBI, Mike will take on the role of Research Resource Strategist in the Director’s Team.
