Nat Clarke
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natclarke.bsky.social
Nat Clarke
@natclarke.bsky.social
960 followers 420 following 44 posts
Assistant Prof @univmiami.bsky.social. Cellular and Developmental Biology / Evo-Devo / Animal Multicellularity / Cell adhesion. Lover of weird invertebrates. Learn more: clarkelab.com
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natclarke.bsky.social
Nat Clarke @natclarke.bsky.social · Oct 8
🚨 My lab is hiring at all levels!

Interested in animal origins & evolutionary cell biology?

I'm recruiting a postdoc, PhD students & a research assistant to study the molecular evolution of cell adhesion using marine invertebrates + comparative genomics.

🔗: clarkelab.com/join/

Please repost!
Reposted by Nat Clarke
actin-paris-saclay.bsky.social
New paper out!
We show how mechanosensitive adherens junction proteins link actomyosin contractility to actin assembly using in vitro reconstitution.
Huge congrats to Aurélie Favarin, Rayan Said, & all authors!
In Science Advances: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#actin #myosin #mechanobiology
January 2, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
vprakashlab.bsky.social
🚨 POSTDOC OPENING 🚨
NIH-funded Bio-Fluid Mechanics Postdoc in my lab @univmiami.bsky.social
Hofstenia miamia | cilia-driven flows | behavior & neuroscience
Collab w/ Mansi Srivastava @harvard.edu
🕒 Start: Jan–Feb 2026
⏳ 1 yr, renewable | Email me ASAP!
#Postdoc #Biophysics #FluidDynamics
December 23, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
arnausebe.bsky.social
Excited to share the final version of our study on Nematostella cell type regulatory programs. Part of our @erc.europa.eu StG project, this was a challenging 5-year effort extraodinarily led by @aelek.bsky.social and @martaig.bsky.social.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Decoding cnidarian cell type gene regulation - Nature Ecology & Evolution
This study reconstructs the gene regulatory networks that define cell types in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, providing a valuable resource for comparative regulatory genomics and the evoluti...
www.nature.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
shchurch.bsky.social
The Church Evolution Lab (CEL@NYU) is hiring a postdoc! We have several new projects to study the genomic basis of biodiversity in model clades – especially Hawaiian Drosophila. apply.interfolio.com/179354

Come join our new group, you can study bugs and live in NYC! Feel free to share widely!
December 22, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
djsnails.bsky.social
Happy holidays to one and all ❄️! On the Friday before Christmas 🎄 I’m excited to share my first first-author pre-print. Are you interested in molluscs 🐚, developmental biology, CRISPR F0 KOs, Pax6, eye 👁️ development and evolution? Then here’s a thread for you. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
December 19, 2025 at 3:38 PM
natclarke.bsky.social
Felt a little festive at the microscope this morning for #FluorescenceFriday 🎄

Here’s the nervous system of a juvenile sea star ⭐️

Green = acetylated tubulin, red = nuclei

Happy holidays!
Confocal microscopy image of a juvenile sea star (Patiria miniata) viewed from the oral side. The animal has a five-armed, star-shaped body with a central nerve ring. The nervous system is labeled in green, forming radial nerve cords extending into each arm, and cell nuclei are labeled in red throughout the animal. The image appears against a black background and has a holiday-ornament-like appearance.
December 19, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
prakashlab.bsky.social
(1/n) What if you never had to make your bed? What if your laundry could fold itself? Folding is everywhere around us - but did you know that folding flat sheets are at the ❤️ of diversity of shapes in the animal world - since 500 million years ago. Our latest work: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nudC...
Self-folding laundry
YouTube video by PrakashLab
www.youtube.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
maitrejl.bsky.social
📣 #Job alert!
Looking to establish your own independent research in cell biology, development or evo-devo?
The @cnrs.fr is recruiting 7 scientists in that area of research.
Here are updated unofficial guidelines. Reach out to members of the committee if you have questions
c3n-cn.fr/section-24-w...
December 18, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
agathechaigne.bsky.social
My lab is hiring a postdoc (ERC funded)! If you're interested, get in touch!
December 18, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
profcgarza.bsky.social
We are now advertising for the position of Assistant Professor of Marine Invertebrate Organismal Biology @uwsafs.bsky.social The position will be based out at Friday Harbor Labs in the San Juan Islands. See the ad below for details. @csucoast.bsky.social
apply.interfolio.com/178804
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
maikbischoff.bsky.social
🚨 PhD Position Available 🚨
I’m recruiting a PhD student to join my lab at the Multiscale Imaging Centre (MIC), Münster, Germany.

www.bischofflab.com/jobs

Fully funded ✅
#Cellbio #Morphogenesis #Microscopy
#Drosophila #PhD
(Details Below)

Original Posting:
stellen.uni-muenster.de/jobposting/d...
December 15, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
inesfournon.bsky.social
Thrilled to share the preprint from my PhD! 🥳 Where I characterised epithelial cell extrusion in a sea anemone
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Big thanks to my supervisor @prhsteinmetz.bsky.social and coauthors @noahbruderer.bsky.social @lionlchristiaen.bsky.social at🇳🇴 @msarscentre.bsky.social ⬇️🧵
December 16, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
gloerichlab.bsky.social
Paper alert! β-catenin forms condensates that help build cell–cell adhesions - showing its role goes beyond simply linking E-cadherin to α-cat/actin. Great collaboration with the Schuijers lab!

👉 nature.com/articles/s41...
December 16, 2025 at 9:25 AM
natclarke.bsky.social
Echinoderm aficionados, please help - I’m looking for antibody advice! Has anyone used the 12G10 or E7 tubulin antibodies from DSHB to stain cleavage stage embryos?

I’m planning a sea urchin cytokinesis module for my cell biology lab next semester and want the students to do beautiful IF stains.
December 16, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
peiferlabunc.bsky.social
To build the body plan of an animal, cells must adhere to one another via cell-cell junctions. We now know these assemble as punctate protein complexes containing thousands of proteins, but how this occurs remains mysterious. 1/n 🧪
www.molbiolcell.org/doi/full/10....
Image of cell junction puncta from https://www.molbiolcell.org/doi/full/10.1091/mbc.E23-03-0077
December 14, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
jbwallingford.bsky.social
Calling all postdocs! Applications are open for Dept. of Molecular Biosciences 3rd Trailblazers Postdoctoral Symposium @utaustin.bsky.social. Come to Austin, meet your peers, showcase your work. Application is easy and all expenses are paid! Spread the word!

tinyurl.com/yw7ffjn9
Microsoft Forms
tinyurl.com
December 10, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
maxjtelford.bsky.social
Some more shenanigans on the Ctenophora Porifera debate from @rcply.bsky.social academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...
Sponges, ctenophores and the statistical significance of syntenies
Abstract. Shared fusions between ancestral chromosomal linkage groups have previously been used to support phylogenetic groupings, notably sponges with cni
academic.oup.com
December 10, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
plosbiology.org
How do animals with lifelong growth modulate cell #proliferation? @eudaldpascual.bsky.social @ktgarschall.bsky.social @prhsteinmetz.bsky.social show that starvation induces G1/G0 #CellCycle arrest in Vasa2+/Piwi1+ #SeaAnemone cells; cycle re-entry is TOR-dependent @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/48J2o6P
Top: The phylogenetic position of Nematostella and localization of Vasa2 +/Piwi1+ cells within the juvenile polyp body plan. (A) Simplified phylogenetic tree highlighting the phylogenetic position of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis and other animal taxa relevant for this study. All animal silhouettes are licensed under CC0,1.0 Universal Public domain and taken from https://www.phylopic.org. (B–D) Schematics showing the localization of Vasa2+/Piwi1+ cells in a juvenile polyp, depicted in longitudinal (B) or cross-section (C, D). (E) Schematic representation of the multipotent, Vasa2+/Piwi1+ stem/progenitor cell population and a simplified summary of their germinal and somatic progeny. (F) Schematics of cell cycle phases, highlighting the incorporation of EdU during S-phase (black line) and the phosphorylation of Histone H3 (pH3+) during metaphase. Bottom: Confocal image of two Vasa+/Piwi+ stem-like cells in the inner epithelial folds of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Immunolabelling of mOrange2-Piwi1 fusion protein (yellow) in a transgenic knock-in line combined with nuclear stain (white). Image credit: Paula Miramón-Puértolas.
December 9, 2025 at 1:50 PM
natclarke.bsky.social
Interested in cell adhesion, evolution of multicellularity, or developing tools for emerging marine models?

My lab at UM is hiring a postdoc, and the application is now open:
🔗 tinyurl.com/28jvu4aa

If you know anyone looking for a postdoc, please pass this along!
December 8, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
nature.com
Nature research paper: Rewiring an olfactory circuit by altering cell-surface combinatorial code

go.nature.com/3MbCoZT
Rewiring an olfactory circuit by altering cell-surface combinatorial code - Nature
In Drosophila, changing the expression of a small set of cell-surface proteins in just one type of olfactory neuron rewires its connections almost entirely to a new postsynaptic partner neuron type, altering the fly’s odour response and courtship behaviour.
go.nature.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
currentbiology.bsky.social
Check out our latest issue where we interview Cassandra Extavour, who studies the evolution of the genetic mechanisms employed during early animal embryogenesis to specify cell fate, development, and differentiation at Harvard University. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Q & A
Interview with Cassandra Extavour, who studies the evolution of the genetic mechanisms employed during early animal embryogenesis to specify cell fate, development, and differentiation at Harvard Univ...
www.cell.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
clytia-vlfr.bsky.social
Drawing together findings from several projects over many years, we make a case that neural cell types in the Clytia larva have two embryological origins: i-cells and ectodermal.
bioRxiv 2025.11.17.688882; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Separation of the Early gastrula into oral and aboral halves shows that some neural cell tupes derive from aboral ectoderm, and others from i-cells
November 19, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
jbwallingford.bsky.social
SAVE THE DATE! Stoked to organize the 2026 Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting with @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, @lowelab.bsky.social, and Shelbi Russell. Come learn about Biomedicine, Biomechanics, and the Biosphere, August 24-28, 2026. Registration dates, etc., coming soon! Please RT
November 19, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
dev-journal.bsky.social
Searching for physical principles of morphogenesis

In this #OpenAccess Spotlight, Nikolas Claussen, Fridtjof Brauns and @streichan.bsky.social highlight the ‘physics of development’, focusing on the interplay between quantitative experiments and mathematical theory

doi.org/10.1242/dev....
A figure illustrating examples of physics-inspired theory in developmental biology. Please read the linked article for more information.
November 19, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Reposted by Nat Clarke
fabianrentzsch.bsky.social
Our paper on the role of neurons in Nematostella head regeneration is now out at @currentbiology.bsky.social Big thank you to all collaborators, it was a pleasure!

Ectopic head regeneration after nervous system ablation in a sea anemone: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Ectopic head regeneration after nervous system ablation in a sea anemone
Via genetic ablation of neurons, Mazloumi Gavgani et al. show that the nervous system is essential for defining axial polarity during whole-body regeneration in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis.
www.cell.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:00 AM