Ronen ZAIDEL-BAR
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
Laboratory website
Zaidel-Bar Cell Adhesion Lab
How is transcription regulated in stem cells?
How is transcription regulated in stem cells? Pluripotent stem cells can potentially differentiate into any given cell type. They commonly exhibit mechanically softer nuclei [1], lack type-A lamins [2] and have a poorly defined [...]
How is DNA replicated?
How is DNA replicated? Cells must replicate their DNA before they can divide. This ensures that each daughter cell gets a copy of the genome, and therefore, successful inheritance of genetic traits. DNA replication [...]
What is translation?
What is translation? Translation is a process that involves the synthesis of an amino acid chain from an mRNA blueprint. These polypeptide chains fold into functional proteins. Translation occurs outside the nucleus once nuclear [...]
What are septins?
What is the role of septins in infection? Host (human) septins play a role in bacterial pathogenesis [1] and in host defense mechanisms, mainly, autophagy [2]. Although actin is the most commonly exploited cytoskeletal [...]
What are telomeres?
What are telomeres? Telomeres are short nucleotide sequences found at the end of linear chromosomes which protect the genetic information. In vertebrates, telomeres have the hexameric sequence TTAGGG. During DNA replication, the double stranded [...]
Development
Development Development in higher order organisms commences at conception and continues into old age. With every stage of development, changes in the physical properties of cells and tissues takes place. In some cases these [...]
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
Taking pole positions
How polarity proteins localize at opposite poles during symmetry breaking
MBI Roadshow in China
The MBI Roadshow in China will take place in Guangzhou at the South China University of Technology, and in Shenzhen at the Southern University of Science & Technology, from 12 to 15 October, 2018.
Mario Adan Mendieta Serrano
Research Fellow, Saunders Group
Bi Feng
Alumni, Kanchanawong Group
Corey Bryen Lingam
Alumni, Hanry Yu Group
Zhao Zixuan
PhD Student, Class of August 2018, Yu Group
Zhong Xueying
PhD Student, Class of August 2018, Kanchanawong Group
Xiao Jingwei
PhD Student, Class of August 2018, Low Group
Wang Jiahao
PhD Student, Class of August 2018, Yu Group
Kabigting Jessica Evangeline Tan
Research Fellow, Class of August 2018, Toyama Group
Deng Yunxin
Research Fellow, Class of August 2018, Yan Jie Group
Sunandan Dhar
PhD Student, Class of August 2018, Saunders Group
