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 are Ras GTPases?
What are Ras GTPases? The Ras family of small GTPases were originally discovered during a search for oncogenic retroviruses. Named for their ability to cause rat sarcomas, human RAS genes were identified in 1982 [...]
What are focal adhesions?
What are focal adhesions? Focal adhesions are integrin-containing, multi-protein structures that form mechanical links between intracellular actin bundles and the extracellular matrix or substrate in many cell types [1]. The formation and function of [...]
Are focal adhesions dynamic?
Are focal adhesion dynamic? In migrating cells, turnover of adhesion components happens throughout the adhesion life cycle, with a shift in equilibrium between rates of recruitment and removal during the various stages. At the [...]
Are focal adhesions dynamic?
Are focal adhesion dynamic? In migrating cells, turnover of adhesion components happens throughout the adhesion life cycle, with a shift in equilibrium between rates of recruitment and removal during the various stages. At the [...]
How are focal adhesion dynamics regulated?
How are focal adhesion dynamics regulated? The highly dynamic and complex molecular composition of focal adhesions is regulated by a number of physico-chemical signals arising from its surroundings, such as extracellular matrix stiffness, topography, [...]
What are Rho GTPases?
What are Rho GTPases? The Ras homologous (Rho) protein family is a member of the Ras superfamily of small GTPases. Small GTPases are monomeric proteins and function as molecular switches that turn “on” or [...]
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 Xuyao Iris
Research Assistant (Physics), Class of August 2015, Toyama, Sheetz, and Yan Jie Groups
Xu Lisheng
PhD Student, Class of August 2016, Toyama Group, Kenney Group
Yuki Yamanaka
Alumni, Kenney Group
Parisa Zangoui Nejad Chahkootahi
Alumni, Kenney Group
Liew Tze Fui Andrew
Alumni, Kenney Group
Mrinal Dinesh Shah
Alumni, Kenney Group
Foo Yong Hwee
Alumni, Kenney Group
Nai Mui Hoon Brenda
Alumni, Research Associate, Lim Group
Supatra Tharinee Marsh
Alumni, Lim Group
Sarvesh Abhay Sukhatme
Alumni, Lim Group
Shreyansh Jain
Alumni, Lim Group, Ladoux Group
Parthiv Kant Chaudhuri
MBI Alumni, Lim Group
