
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 caveolar endocytosis?
What is caveolar endocytosis? Caveolar endocytosis is a clathrin-independent endocytic process which involves bulb-shaped, 50-60nm plasma membrane invaginations called caveolae (or ‘little caves’). Caveolae formation is driven by integral membrane proteins called caveolins as [...]
What is clathrin-mediated endocytosis?
What is clathrin-mediated endocytosis? Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) is a vesicular transport event that facilitates the internalization and recycling of receptors engaged in a variety of processes, including signal transduction (G-protein and tyrosine kinase receptors), [...]
How is clathrin recruited to the plasma membrane?
How is clathrin recruited to the plasma membrane? Clathrin-mediated endocytosis is triggered by phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) accumulation within the plasma membrane. PIP2 accumulates as a result of phosphoinositide catalysis by the lipid kinases, phosphatidylinositol-4-kinase (PI4K) [...]
How does the clathrin coated pit form?
How does the clathrin coated pit form? Adaptor proteins such as AP-2, AP180 and CALM (Clathrin-assembly lymphoid myeloid leukaemia protein), which accumulate within the lipid bilayer, are responsible for the recruitment of the triskelion [...]
How does invagination and maturation of the clathrin-coated vesicle occur?
How does invagination and maturation of the clathrin-coated vesicle occur? Clathrin-coated vesicle maturation incorporates the activities of a range of proteins. Actin, myosin and WASP all have important roles in the formation and stabilization [...]
How does the clathrin-coated vesicle neck narrow?
How does the clathrin-coated vesicle neck narrow? In the final stages of clathrin-coated vesicle (CCV) formation, Phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) undergoes a dephosphorylation by phosphatases such as synaptojanin 1 (Synj1) [1]. Not only does this inhibit [...]
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
Florian Dilasser
Research Fellow, Viasnoff Group
MBI’s International Conference on Genomes and AI: From Packing to Regulation, October 2-4
MBI's upcoming conference will bring together leading international experts, early-career scientists and students at the intersection of genome biology and machine learning to spur new collaborations across disciplinary boundaries. This is critical for uncovering the mechanogenomic codes that link genome architecture, regulation and function, and ultimately for the development of new biomarkers and therapeutic interventions. The International Conference on Genomes and AI: From Packing to Regulation will cover the following three major themes: 1) Single-cell 1D and 3D Genomics: Experiments and Modeling, 2) Networks: From Expression to Regulatory Modules, and 3) Genome Architecture: Regulation and Biomarkers
MBI welcomes its incoming class of 2019
Congratulations to our incoming students! We're proud to introduce (l to r): Liang Lanfeng, Yan Wu, Kashish Jain, Ignacius Tay Yan Yun, Hu Jinrong, Liu Jingzhun, Leong Kim Whye and Deepika Singh, the newest additions to the MBI community.
Molecular controllers of stem cell mechanics
Recent study led by MBI graduate student Shumin Xia and Principal Investigator Associate Professor Pakorn Tony Kanchanawong use super resolution imaging techniques to study the nanoscale organization of the cortical actin cytoskeleton in mouse embryonic stem cells and understand the role of molecules such as Arp2/3, formins, and capping protein in coordinating cortical architecture in mESCs.
Wu Yan
PhD Student, Class of August 2019, Low Group
Ignacius Tay Yan Yun
PhD Student, Class of August 2019, Toyama Group
Deepika Singh
PhD Student, Class of August 2019, Viasnoff Group
Liu Jingzhun
Research Fellow, Yan Jie Group
Liang Lanfeng
Research Fellow, Class of August 2019, Lim Group
Leong Kim Whye
Research Fellow, Class of August 2019, Chan Group
Kashish Jain
PhD Student, Class of August 2019, Kanchanawong Group, Sheetz Group
Hu Jinrong
Research Assistant, PhD Student, Class of August 2019, Li Group, Bershadsky Group












