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 the mesenchymal to epithelial transition?
What is the mesenchymal-epithelial transition? During development, the transitioning of epithelial cells to a mesenchymal lineage is not an irreversible process. Instead, a number of developmental programs are accompanied by a reversal of EMT, [...]
How is hematopoiesis regulated by mechanics?
How is hematopoiesis regulated by mechanics? Once blood circulation is established during the earliest stages of hematopoiesis, the pulsatile nature of blood flow within the aorta generates a range of biomechanical forces, such as [...]
What is the cellular origin of hematopoietic stem cells?
What is the cellular origin of hematopoietic stem cells? Based on findings from a large number of anatomical, biochemical, and genetic studies carried out over the years, three major theories have been put forth [...]
What are cell-cell adhesions?
What are cell-cell adhesions? Cell-cell signaling refers to inter-cellular communication through the transduction of chemical, mechanical or electrical signals, facilitated by the formation of specialized cell-cell adhesion junctions. There are three main types of [...]
How are cell-cell adhesions regulated?
How are cell-cell adhesions regulated? Introduction to the regulation of cell-cell adhesion The assembly and disassembly of cell-cell junctions, such as adherens junctions (AJ), are regulated by a vast array of factors functioning in [...]
What is hematopoiesis?
What is hematopoiesis? The hematopoietic system, which comprises all the cellular components of the blood, is one of the earliest organ systems to evolve during embryo development. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are rare [...]
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
Liu Xuan Olivia
Alumni, Low Group
Danai Kati
Alumni, Shivashankar Group
Chong Zheng Min Clarence
Alumni, Yan Jie Group
Nuclear Biomarkers
The future of disease diagnosis and therapy?
Professor Linda Kenney elected to the American Academy of Microbiology Fellowship
The MBI proudly congratulates Prof Linda Kenney, Principal Investigator at the Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, for being elected to the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM).
ISMB III – 3rd Symposium on Mechanobiology: Post Event Report
The 3rd International Symposium on Mechanobiology (ISMBIII), jointly organized by the Mechanobiology Institute and the International Society of Mechanobiology, was held between 11-14 December at University Town, National University of Singapore.
MBInsights Annual Archive
MBInsights Home Science Features News Awards Outreach Events MBInsights Annual MBInsights Annual Archive MBI Science Communications An annual summary of research at the Mechanobiology Institute, National [...]
MBInsights Annual 2017
MBInsights Home Science Features News Awards Outreach Events MBInsights Annual MBInsights Annual 2017 Edition MBI Science Communications | NOV 2017 An annual summary of research at [...]
Synchrony of Waves
The collective dynamics of endocytosis
Sensing Force and Torque
Mechanical regulation of actin polymerization by formins
Confined movements
How cells form tubes in confined spaces
2017 National Day Honours: MBI staff member Tan Bee Lay awarded Long Service Medal
Congratulations to MBI’s own Tan Bee Lay for her award of the Long Service Medal by the President of the Republic of Singapore in recognition of her contributions to the University.
