Katrina Velle
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katrinavelle.bsky.social
Katrina Velle
@katrinavelle.bsky.social
2.4K followers 2.4K following 100 posts
Assistant Professor @ UMass Dartmouth. Interested in actin, amoebae, microscopy, and sciart. she/her
katrinavelle.wixsite.com/science
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katrinavelle.bsky.social
Katrina Velle @katrinavelle.bsky.social · Oct 5
PhD or Master's position available for Fall 2026!

Interested in how actin drives cell crawling, eating, dividing, or osmoregulation? What about pathogenesis of a brain-eating amoeba? Or eukaryotic evolution? If so, apply through my website: katrinavelle.wixsite.com/science/cont...
Please share!
katrinavelle.bsky.social
Just under a month left—apply by December 5 through the link on my website!
katrinavelle.bsky.social Katrina Velle @katrinavelle.bsky.social · Oct 5
PhD or Master's position available for Fall 2026!

Interested in how actin drives cell crawling, eating, dividing, or osmoregulation? What about pathogenesis of a brain-eating amoeba? Or eukaryotic evolution? If so, apply through my website: katrinavelle.wixsite.com/science/cont...
Please share!
November 6, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
dudinlab.bsky.social
🚨Our collaboration with @centriolelab.bsky.social & @gautamdey.bsky.social is out today in @cp-cell.bsky.social
We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny.
#ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
October 31, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
woutoosterheert.bsky.social
Very excited that my final postdoctoral work is now online in Cell @cellpress.bsky.social.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Using 16 (!) cryo-EM structures, we uncovered how the three proteins coronin, cofilin and AIP1 work together to rapidly disassemble actin filaments.
October 13, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
peiferlabunc.bsky.social
Incredible video, incredible work. This is a huge step forward in understanding both actin severing, and more broadly, how actin binding proteins change filament architecture and thus drive re-modeling 🧪
woutoosterheert.bsky.social Wout Oosterheert @woutoosterheert.bsky.social · 29d
Very excited that my final postdoctoral work is now online in Cell @cellpress.bsky.social.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Using 16 (!) cryo-EM structures, we uncovered how the three proteins coronin, cofilin and AIP1 work together to rapidly disassemble actin filaments.
October 13, 2025 at 2:52 PM
katrinavelle.bsky.social
Happy #MicrosCreepy season!
October 8, 2025 at 12:30 AM
katrinavelle.bsky.social
PhD or Master's position available for Fall 2026!

Interested in how actin drives cell crawling, eating, dividing, or osmoregulation? What about pathogenesis of a brain-eating amoeba? Or eukaryotic evolution? If so, apply through my website: katrinavelle.wixsite.com/science/cont...
Please share!
October 5, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
tlmcambridge.bsky.social
🚨 TLM Online Seminar Series - 08.10.25 | 16:00 UK
Pablo Sáez: "Decision-making during cell migration"

Please repost & to attend online please register to our 📧for the zoom link: lists.cam.ac.uk/sympa/subscr...
Poster with a picture of the speaker, Pablo Saez, advertising his talk: Decision Making during cell migrations. Abstract: Moving cells navigate inside living tissues often encountering obstacles and junctions, where their path branches into alternative directions of migration. This is the case of cells moving on top or within blood vessels, which often bifurcate into branches. Cells have diverse migratory strategies that differentially rely on the adhesion to the substrate. Cells that undergo mesenchymal migration are highly dependent on the adhesion to the substrate, and when facing bifurcations are forced to coordinate the adhesion and detachment of the competing branches. Recent studies showed how the decision is made -to keep or retract a branch and choose a new direction- when there is bias: open versus dead-end, differences in pressure, presence/absence of a chemoattractant. However, much less is know about how cells decide a new direction when the decision is unbiased. Similarly, it is poorly understood how migrating cells coordinate membrane dynamics during branching to maintain a good trade-off between microenvironmental exploration and migratory efficiency. Here, we use in vitro live-cell imaging using different levels of complexity, and advanced image analysis to analyze the response of migrating cells when facing symmetric junctions, and extreme branching when cells simultaneously face several bifurcations. We found that actin and membrane dynamics play a key role to choose a new direction path in both cases i) when cells face a single junction (Ron et al. 2024), and ii) when cells exhibit high levels of branching because they face several junctions at the same time (Liu et al.). In addition, we found that migrating immune cells have a fine tune regulation of branching in order to coordinate surveillance and migration. These results shed light on the mechanisms by which cells resolve unbiased junctions and branching during cell migration.
October 3, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
ankita13jha.bsky.social
If anyone ever wants to brush up on a lot of cell migration concepts don't forget we have several wonderful scientists who have given talks previously in cell migration seminars. I find it so comforting to go look at old videos, maybe someone else who will do as well!!
youtube.com/@cellmigrati...
Cell Migration Seminars
Cell Migration Seminars every Tuesday at 16:00 BST.
youtube.com
September 29, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
drmichaelway.bsky.social
And now for something completely different @tianyang22.bsky.social & #YanCao uncover of how SPIN90 dimers activate Arp2/3 to nucleate bidirectional linear actin filaments. Great collaboration with @romet-jegou-lab.bsky.social & @carolynmoores1.bsky.social #Cryo-EM #Arp2/3 rdcu.be/eGoH4
Arp2/3-mediated bidirectional actin assembly by SPIN90 dimers
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology - Liu et al. show that SPIN90 dimerizes and binds two Arp2/3 complexes to nucleate two bidirectional actin filaments and the dimerization domain is...
rdcu.be
September 16, 2025 at 6:09 AM
katrinavelle.bsky.social
”Please inhibit responsibly: Natural and synthetic actin toxins as useful tools in cell biology”

I had a lot of fun going down different actin inhibitor rabbit holes with @onishilab.bsky.social on this perspective!

www.molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/...

www.molbiolcell.org/cms/10.1091/...
September 16, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
jcb.org
@fritzlaylin.bsky.social et al. propose a simple way to highlight both experimental #reproducibility & cell-to-cell variation, while avoiding pitfalls common in analysis of cell biology data rupress.org/jcb/article/...

📕 Reproducibility & Best Practices in Cell Biology: rupress.org/jcb/collecti...
September 12, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
sshekhr.bsky.social
📢📢Hiring 2 Research Assistants & 2 Postdocs at Emory University in Atlanta to study cytoskeletal biophysics/biochemistry. Please RT.

RAs: great for recent bachelor's/master's in Physics/Bio/Chem/Biochem. Email CV and interests to shekhar@emory.edu.

More info: www.shekharlab.org
August 29, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
daslabpombe.com
Our latest preprint on the role of the Arp2/3 complex in mitotic entry is now available @biorxiv. This work was done by Dhanya Kalathil, a very talented postdoc in my lab. The story started in 2019 when we were investigating the role of branched actin in cytokinesis. 1/
September 6, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
currentbiology.bsky.social
Feeling mitochondrially challenged lately?

Here are two classic reviews on #mitochondria that should help.

www.cell.com/current-biol...

www.cell.com/current-biol...
The Origin and Diversification of Mitochondria
Moving beyond the simplistic view of mitochondria as the power house of the cell, Roger et al. present the immense diversity of mitochondria and mitochondrial functions across eukaryotes, and bring th...
www.cell.com
August 28, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
nature.com
For some three billion years, unicellular organisms ruled Earth. Then, around one billion years ago, a new chapter of life began

go.nature.com/3JyRV4S
How did life get multicellular? Five simple organisms could have the answer
Single-celled species that often stick together in colonies have researchers rethinking the origin of animals.
go.nature.com
August 27, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
lreymond.bsky.social
New preprint online!

So much fun working on this project, thank you @centriolelab.bsky.social and @dudinlab.bsky.social for embarking me on this one!

Hopefully HAK-actin will become your best companion for actin staining U-ExM expanded samples.
centriolelab.bsky.social Paul & Virginie - Centriole Lab @centriolelab.bsky.social · Aug 28
Trouble imaging actin in ExM? Meet HAK-Actin, a probe for U-ExM, cryo-ExM & iU-ExM. Enables post-expansion labeling for max signal. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Soon at @spirochrome.com
Led by O.Mercey and @lreymond.bsky.social, in collab with @dudinlab.bsky.social and @marinelap.bsky.social
August 28, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
pjsaez.bsky.social
#FluorescenceFriday

#Mitochondria, powerhouse of the #cell were labeled (cyan) and it's possible to visualize how they reach *every* corner to provide energy.

All recorded under the microscope @cellcommlab.bsky.social

#scicomm #sciencesky #microscopy #organelles @focalplane.bsky.social 🧪🔬
June 20, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
bbentley.bsky.social
Who needs BioRender when you have #MSPaint?

www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
June 18, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
ascbiology.bsky.social
Today, @nihfellowsunited.bsky.social staff sent a powerful letter to the NIH Director outlining serious concerns about the agency’s direction. Thousands have already signed in support—add your name. – Mary Munson, ASCB President www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-dec...
Bethesda Declaration — STAND UP FOR SCIENCE
Support NIH Staff Now!
www.standupforscience.net
June 9, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
jeremymberg.bsky.social
Glad to see some scientific society leadership stepping up to endorse the #BethesdaDeclaration
ascbiology.bsky.social American Society for Cell Biology @ascbiology.bsky.social · Jun 9
Today, @nihfellowsunited.bsky.social staff sent a powerful letter to the NIH Director outlining serious concerns about the agency’s direction. Thousands have already signed in support—add your name. – Mary Munson, ASCB President www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-dec...
Bethesda Declaration — STAND UP FOR SCIENCE
Support NIH Staff Now!
www.standupforscience.net
June 10, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
sarahmoeba.bsky.social
An amoeba movie I made: "hungry" #protistsonsky #amoeba
June 3, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
peiferlabunc.bsky.social
These courses are a remarkable opportunity for scientists to up their game. They'll learn tools and approaches that are transformative! Check it out! 🧪
May 4, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
atinygreencell.bsky.social
I got hit by some rather sudden and extreme financial hardship so if anyone is in need of remote wetlab contract research, strictly BSL1, do let me know. Currently scrambling for gigs.

Plant, Bacterial, Archaeal Non-model Bioeng
Custom Lab Hardware
Turn Key Genetic Design

Please repost for reach 💚
May 2, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
peiferlabunc.bsky.social
This awesome @faseborg.bsky.social website offers detailed information about NIH and NSF funding to each and every state--use this a write!
www.faseb.org/science-poli...
May 3, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Reposted by Katrina Velle
bita137.bsky.social
“Mr. Musk’s cuts to the bureaucracy will cost taxpayers $135 billion this fiscal year.”

That is 3 times the entire NIH budget

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/u...
Elon Musk and DOGE’s Savings May Be Erased by New Costs
An expert on the federal work force estimates that the speed and chaos of Mr. Musk’s cuts to the bureaucracy will cost taxpayers $135 billion this fiscal year.
www.nytimes.com
April 25, 2025 at 5:18 AM