Markus Mukenhirn
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markusmukenhirn.bsky.social
Markus Mukenhirn
@markusmukenhirn.bsky.social
2K followers 4.2K following 85 posts
Post-Doc @katjaroeper.bsky.social lab @pdncambridge.bsky.social
Interested in kidney organoids and lumen formation; Former @honigmann_lab,
@biotec-tud.bsky.social, @cmcb-tud.bsky.social,@mpicbg.bsky.social
and @boulantlab
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markusmukenhirn.bsky.social
Markus Mukenhirn @markusmukenhirn.bsky.social · Nov 12
How do cells control the lumen shape and size? Check out our combined work from the
Honigmann_Lab
and
RivelineLab
where we look at the mechanical role of #TightJunctions in #lumen formation: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The images show a series of midplane cross-sections of small, spherical structures called cysts, made up of cells from a type called MDCK-II. These cysts have been genetically modified, with specific changes to their tight junctions (TJs), which are structures that help cells stick together and regulate flow between them.
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
ritamateus.bsky.social
Briefly, after organ injury, 100 milliseconds, we detected collective changes in membrane potential at the tissue level. This is so far the earliest detected wound-response!! This electric signal sparks the formation of a tissue-wide calcium wave👇
February 5, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
ritamateus.bsky.social
New paper alert!🤩Super proud that our story led by superstar postdocs @liujinghui.bsky.social and @nerlielisa.bsky.social is finally out! We found how electrical signals are key for promoting organ regenerative growth!!! A thread 🧵https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aec0687
Injury-induced electrochemical coupling triggers organ growth
Organ repair and growth rely on coupling tissue-wide membrane depolarization with intracellular proliferative signaling.
www.science.org
February 5, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
currentbiology.bsky.social
This is who runs this account
February 4, 2026 at 5:12 PM
markusmukenhirn.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Engineering scalable vascularized kidney organoids for in vivo glomerular filtration with human endothelial integration - npj Biomedical Innovations
npj Biomedical Innovations - Engineering scalable vascularized kidney organoids for in vivo glomerular filtration with human endothelial integration
www.nature.com
February 3, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
Actomyosin cortex integration with complex plasma membrane topography in the early Drosophila embryo

rupress.org/jcb/article-...
February 2, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
peiferlabunc.bsky.social
Some folks aren't afraid to speak up even if it might affect their career
www.youtube.com/shorts/M23X4...
Mark Ruffalo delivers emotional message on Golden Globes red carpet
YouTube video by USA TODAY Entertainment
www.youtube.com
February 1, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
cellsdev.bsky.social
A fascinating review on the role of Activin in organ induction. Isn't it wild that in Xenopus embryos, a piece of the animal cap can be induced with Activin at different concentrations and buffers to form the ❤️, kidney, the pancreas, head, tail, and even a whole embryoid 🤯:
doi.org/10.1016/j.cd...
Fig. 1. Animal cap assay and sandwich method as in vitro induction systems. In amphibians, a blastocoel cavity clearly forms inside the animal hemisphere during the blastula and early gastrula stages. The cap-like portion lining the roof of the blastocoel cavity is the animal cap. This region consists of a sheet of pluripotent cells, organized into one or several layers. In the animal cap assay, the animal cap was treated with a physiological saline solution containing inducing factors and then cultured. Depending on the type, concentration, and duration of exposure to the inducing factors, animal caps can differentiate into various cell types. In contrast, the sandwich method, involves culturing the inducer source in between two animal caps. In this technique, the sources of induction can include the dorsal lip of the blastopore (organizer), adult tissues, pelletized soluble factors, or animal caps pretreated with soluble factors. In this figure, activin is used as an example of an inducing factor. Fig. 12. Summary of the in vitro induction system using activin as an inducing factor. This in vitro induction system utilizes activin and retinoic acid as inducing factors to treat animal caps, employing techniques such as animal cap assay, dissociation/reaggregation protocol, and the sandwich method. By applying these methods, various levels of self-organization can be replicated and controlled in vitro, ranging from lower-order cell differentiation to higher-order tissue differentiation, organogenesis, and even the formation of fundamental body plans. Abbreviations: Dorsal [D], ventral [V], and retinoic acid [RA]. Fig. 11. Formation of embryoids by artificial activin concentration gradients. To create embryoids, animal caps were prepared through treatment with low (0.5–1 ng/ml), intermediate (5–10 ng/ml), or high (50–100 ng/ml) concentrations of activin. These three types of activin-treated animal caps were then sequentially arranged and cultured with untreated animal caps. After 3 days of culture, embryoids with distinct head and trunk-tail structures were formed (A). Histological sections revealed differentiation into head tissues, such as the cement gland [cg] and eyes, and trunk-tail tissues including the ear vesicle [ev], brain [br], notochord [not], muscle [mus], and gut (B). When newt embryos are used in similar combination cultures, neural plate structures forming the brain [white arrow] and axial structures forming the trunk-tail regions [black arrow] are sometimes observed (C). Fig. 7. In vitro heart formation and in vivo transplantation experiment. When treated with a high concentration of activin, the animal caps of Xenopus embryos did not differentiate into heart tissue. However, if the animal cap dissociates into individual cells before activin treatment and then reaggregates, it forms a beating heart [arrow] with 100 % efficiency (A). This heart expresses differentiation marker genes, such as Nkx2.5, GATA-4, Tbx5, MHCα, TnIc (cardiac troponin I), and ANF, none of which are expressed in an animal cap treated with activin alone, without dissociation/reaggregation (B). Electron microscopy reveals the presence of intercalated discs [id] specific to the cardiac muscle, along with visible mitochondria [m] and Z-bands [z] (C). When the reaggregated heart tissue is orthotopically transplanted into the cardiac primordium of a neurula-stage embryo, it integrates without rejection and continues to beat (D), although it does not persist through host metamorphosis. In contrast, when the reaggregated tissue is ectopically transplanted into the ventral region of the neurula, it begins to beat synchronously with the host heart and gradually reddens as it initiates blood circulation (E).
January 31, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
epimechfc.bsky.social
How do cells orchestrate themselves to achieve a directional movement as a group?

Hi, I’m @sayukihirano.bsky.social. In this thread, I’ll highlight key mechanisms of how cells communicate with each other to perform directional collective migration.
January 31, 2026 at 8:55 AM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
ricardalert.bsky.social
New preprint! We show how mesoscopic nonequilibrium fluctuations in active gels emerge from the breaking of detailed balance at the molecular scale. Warning: Long technical paper ahead! Enjoy! @mpipks.bsky.social @ub.edu @ubics.bsky.social @icreacommunity.bsky.social

arxiv.org/abs/2601.20483
January 30, 2026 at 6:08 PM
markusmukenhirn.bsky.social
The bioquant is a great place to work!
ulrichschwarz.bsky.social Ulrich Schwarz @ulrichschwarz.bsky.social · 7d
📢Job alert📢

@uniheidelberg.bsky.social has an opening for a full W3-position on “Modeling of Biological Processes” 😀👍 Here is the call

tinyurl.com/3w9e9dtf

and application deadline is March 15. The group would be located at the beautiful #BioQuant center right in the middle of Neuenheimer Feld.
January 30, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
epimechfc.bsky.social
Skamrahl, M., Pang, H., Ferle, M., Gottwald, J., ..., Oswald, T. A., & Janshoff, A. (2021). Tight Junction ZO Proteins Maintain Tissue Fluidity, Ensuring Efficient Collective Cell Migration. Advanced science, 8(19), e2100478. #EpithelialMechanics
buff.ly/CB2FSa7
January 30, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
epimechfc.bsky.social
Hirano, S., Kondo, Y., Kinoshita, N., Otani, T., Furuse, M., Ueno, N., & Aoki, K. (2024). ZO-1 shuttles between tight junctions and podosomes by riding ERK activation waves during collective cell migration. bioRxiv. #EpithelialMechanics
buff.ly/ceRhy1r
January 28, 2026 at 11:01 AM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
peiferlabunc.bsky.social
My sister-in-law's dad died last week, in hospice in the VA hospital in Minneapolis. I just learned Alex Pretti was part of his care team. They shot Alex less than 1/2 mile from my niece's house while doing the same observation work that my niece is doing. These are real people. Step up folks!
January 25, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
ulrichschwarz.bsky.social
(1/2) Our work with @freddyfrischknecht.bsky.social on the chirality of malaria parasites has found its home in the January issue of @natphys.nature.com:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Moreover, we are very happy that it comes with a news and views article 👍❤️😀
Chirality of malaria parasites determines their motion patterns - Nature Physics
Malaria parasites move on helical trajectories when infecting their hosts. Now it is shown that they use right-handed chirality to control their motion patterns, and that this chirality is linked to t...
www.nature.com
January 23, 2026 at 8:58 AM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
epimechfc.bsky.social
Villeneuve, C., McCreery, K. P., & Wickström, S. A. (2025). Measuring and manipulating mechanical forces during development. Nature cell biology, 27(4), 575–590. #EpithelialMechanicsReview
buff.ly/nDfSfkS
January 22, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
franzelab.bsky.social
Paper alert: Our study led by @evapillai.bsky.social and @sudimukherjee.bsky.social showing that mechanical properties of the #brain actively shape the molecular landscape during development and #axonpathfinding is finally out! www.nature.com/articles/s41... @pdncambridge.bsky.social @fau.de @MPZPM
Long-range chemical signalling in vivo is regulated by mechanical signals - Nature Materials
Tissue stiffness mediated by Piezo1 is shown to regulate the expression of diffusive guidance cues in the developing Xenopus laevis brain, revealing a crosstalk between mechanical signals and long-ran...
www.nature.com
January 19, 2026 at 4:39 PM
markusmukenhirn.bsky.social
Nothing gives me more joy than installing pytorch over and over again... /s
January 18, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
epimechfc.bsky.social
How can structures at the vertex of 3 cells have effects at the tissue level?

Join me, @laura-rustarazo.bsky.social, to explore how tricellular junctions (TCJs) act as local tension sensors and regulators of global tissue organization. 🧵⤵️ doi.org/10.1126/scie...
January 18, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
peiferlabunc.bsky.social
Lovely work from my colleagues in the Grosshans lab--worth a look. The promise of extending this to get a full nano-scale picture of cell-cell junctions is very exciting
January 18, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
devbiol.bsky.social
#DBfeature

Geometric, cell cycle & maternal-to-zygotic transition-associated YAP dynamics during preimplantation embryo development

YAP behavior depends on cell cycle-nuclei volume dynamics

by Madeleine Chalifoux, Eszter Posfai et al
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Long-term live imaging of preimplantation embryos expressing endogenously tagged YAP-miRFP670
January 14, 2026 at 1:20 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
drlutzboehm.bsky.social
Ein supereinfacher Elektromotor zum selber bauen:
Ein (Neodym)Magnet, eine Eisenschraube, eine AA Batterie und ein Stück Draht.

Und ab geht die wilde Fahrt.
January 12, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
cellsdev.bsky.social
Organoid technology is one of the most significant advancements deriving from developmental biology. Yet, many aspects of the biology of organoid itself remain elusive, one of which is the role of mesenchymal stem cells.
This review:
doi.org/10.1016/j.cd...
by Wang et al discusses this in detail.
Fig. 1. Timeline of organoids development. The history of organoids was initiated by Ross Harrison's origin of nerve fiber experiments and continues to evolve to the present day. Fig. 2. Timeline of MSCs development. In 1970, Friedenstein first divided “fibroblast colonies” from guinea-pig bone marrow and spleen. In 1976, “clonogenic fibroblast precursor cells” were discovered in mouse bone marrow. In 1995, the first-in-human trial of MSCs was conducted. In 1999, it was first discovered that MSCs can differentiate in vitro into osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes. During the period from 2000 to 2010, key functions of MSCs, including homing and migration, were discovered. In 2018, MSCs entered clinical trials for heart failure and Crohn's disease. From 2021 to 2025, clinical trials for MSCs expanded to include cirrhosis, osteoarthritis, and diabetic foot. Fig. 3. Schematic illustration of MSC-mediated optimization of organoids: from challenges to future perspectives. Current organoid systems face limitations such as lack of vasculature, central necrosis, and absence of functional immune components. MSCs address these challenges through two main strategies: acting as structural components in co-culture systems (direct relations) and serving as microenvironmental regulators via paracrine signaling and EVs (indirect relations). The integration of MSCs leads to improved organoid outcomes, including promoted angiogenesis, enhanced maturation, and immunomodulation. Future directions involve combining MSC-organoid systems with 3D bioprinting and organ-on-a-chip technologies to facilitate disease modeling, drug screening, and clinical translation.
January 10, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
anne-grapin.bsky.social
Congratulations to Byung Ho for spearheading this work and our HFSP team!
Curious about the formation of networks of thin lumens and some physics behind it? Take a look at the paper.

Byung Ho is looking for PI positions and he has amazing ideas and leadership.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 9, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
mpi-cbg.de
With Byung Ho Lee and Kana Fuji as first/lead authors, @anne-grapin.bsky.social group, @utokyoofficial.bsky.social, Inst. of Physics of Academia Sinica, & @igbmc.bsky.social found the shape of lumens in the developing pancreas is controlled by pressure & proliferation. www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...
Engineering the development of the pancreas
Researchers found that the shape of the fluid-filled cavities in the developing pancreas is controlled by pressure and the rate cells divide.
www.mpi-cbg.de
January 9, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Reposted by Markus Mukenhirn
biorxiv-cellbio.bsky.social
Heparan sulfate-function is essential for Integrin-dependent cell-matrix interactions and regulates glycosaminoglycan synthesis synthesis through YAP https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.08.697362v1
January 9, 2026 at 4:30 AM