Pierfrancesco Pagella
@ppagella86.bsky.social
Associate Professor in Bioengineering 🇮🇹@ Linköping University 🇸🇪
Bioengineering/Genomics/Development/3R/Teeth/HeavyMetal/Photography
Bioengineering/Genomics/Development/3R/Teeth/HeavyMetal/Photography
Fresh pre-print: our all-human, innervated & vascularized oral cancer-on-chip, all done with fully defined extracellular matrices with controlled enrichment and degradability! 🔥
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
January 20, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Fresh pre-print: our all-human, innervated & vascularized oral cancer-on-chip, all done with fully defined extracellular matrices with controlled enrichment and degradability! 🔥
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
#SpatialTranscriptomics
Visium
+ scRNAseq
Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
vs paired Oral Leukoplakia vs normal tissues
Inhibin A+ monocyte enriched in premalignant OLK lesions
1⃣Mesenchymal CAF 2⃣APOE+NRG1+ Mφ 3⃣TNFRSF4+ Treg ⬆️with tumor progression
#CellDiscov 2023
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Visium
+ scRNAseq
Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
vs paired Oral Leukoplakia vs normal tissues
Inhibin A+ monocyte enriched in premalignant OLK lesions
1⃣Mesenchymal CAF 2⃣APOE+NRG1+ Mφ 3⃣TNFRSF4+ Treg ⬆️with tumor progression
#CellDiscov 2023
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 19, 2026 at 8:17 PM
#SpatialTranscriptomics
Visium
+ scRNAseq
Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
vs paired Oral Leukoplakia vs normal tissues
Inhibin A+ monocyte enriched in premalignant OLK lesions
1⃣Mesenchymal CAF 2⃣APOE+NRG1+ Mφ 3⃣TNFRSF4+ Treg ⬆️with tumor progression
#CellDiscov 2023
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Visium
+ scRNAseq
Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
vs paired Oral Leukoplakia vs normal tissues
Inhibin A+ monocyte enriched in premalignant OLK lesions
1⃣Mesenchymal CAF 2⃣APOE+NRG1+ Mφ 3⃣TNFRSF4+ Treg ⬆️with tumor progression
#CellDiscov 2023
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
In press: our brief review about the efforts to emulate the dental pulp using organ-on-a-chip approaches
”Dental Pulp-On-Chip” Microfluidic Devices for Emulating Human Dental Pulp Tissue Physiology and Pathology - Journal of Endodontics www.jendodon.com/article/S009...
”Dental Pulp-On-Chip” Microfluidic Devices for Emulating Human Dental Pulp Tissue Physiology and Pathology - Journal of Endodontics www.jendodon.com/article/S009...
“Dental Pulp-On-Chip” Microfluidic Devices for Emulating Human Dental Pulp Tissue Physiology and Pathology
The dental pulp is a highly vascularized and innervated connective tissue located
at the central part of the tooth and composed of a diverse array of cell types, including
fibroblasts, multipotent mes...
www.jendodon.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:56 PM
In press: our brief review about the efforts to emulate the dental pulp using organ-on-a-chip approaches
”Dental Pulp-On-Chip” Microfluidic Devices for Emulating Human Dental Pulp Tissue Physiology and Pathology - Journal of Endodontics www.jendodon.com/article/S009...
”Dental Pulp-On-Chip” Microfluidic Devices for Emulating Human Dental Pulp Tissue Physiology and Pathology - Journal of Endodontics www.jendodon.com/article/S009...
A majestic tour-de-force by @szczotml.bsky.social lab at @liu.se - beautiful combination of function & transcriptional identity to understand how pain is encoded across the body 👇🏼👇🏼
Not all pain is created equal: stepping on a nail feels different from a stomachache. We know there are many nociceptor types, but a key question remains: how is mechanical pain encoded across the body by those sensory neurons? Our new work helps answer this. 1/8
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Hierarchical organization of mechano-nociceptive pathways revealed by activity labeling
Noxious mechanical stimuli give rise to distinct percepts, from sharp cutaneous pain to diffuse visceral discomfort, yet the nociceptor ensembles that underlie these differences remain poorly defined....
www.biorxiv.org
December 14, 2025 at 6:59 PM
A majestic tour-de-force by @szczotml.bsky.social lab at @liu.se - beautiful combination of function & transcriptional identity to understand how pain is encoded across the body 👇🏼👇🏼
Mapping genome-wide binding AND protein partners of virtually any gene regulator , simultaneously, without transgenesis? YES 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
Look at what @annanordin.bsky.social & @claudiocantu81.bsky.social cooked!!
Look at what @annanordin.bsky.social & @claudiocantu81.bsky.social cooked!!
Can one map the genome-wide binding (1) and its protein partners (2) simultaneously from the same sample?
Yes, one can. with CUT&ID ✂️🪪
Spearheaded — singlehandedly — by @annanordin.bsky.social
No need of transgenesis, cloning and overexpression.
Check it out, it's fast and its works.
Yes, one can. with CUT&ID ✂️🪪
Spearheaded — singlehandedly — by @annanordin.bsky.social
No need of transgenesis, cloning and overexpression.
Check it out, it's fast and its works.
December 13, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Mapping genome-wide binding AND protein partners of virtually any gene regulator , simultaneously, without transgenesis? YES 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
Look at what @annanordin.bsky.social & @claudiocantu81.bsky.social cooked!!
Look at what @annanordin.bsky.social & @claudiocantu81.bsky.social cooked!!
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
Please please read this.
"people have gotten so used to getting content for free or for almost nothing that they now feel entitled to everything"
Please, Do Feed the Artists, by @johnpavlovitz.bsky.social
Please, Do Feed the Artists, by @johnpavlovitz.bsky.social
Please, Do Feed the Artists
Valuing Creatives in an Entitlement Culture
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Please please read this.
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
Vinculin is a simple adapter protein right? Wrong!
That’s been the prevailing view for the 46 years since it was discovered.
Here we provide a new paradigm and show that vinculin is a complex mechanosensor itself, containing 6 binary switch domains.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
That’s been the prevailing view for the 46 years since it was discovered.
Here we provide a new paradigm and show that vinculin is a complex mechanosensor itself, containing 6 binary switch domains.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The mechanical response of vinculin
Vinculin buffers force via dynamic domain unfolding/refolding under physiological load and lacks a stable head-tail lock.
www.science.org
October 31, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Vinculin is a simple adapter protein right? Wrong!
That’s been the prevailing view for the 46 years since it was discovered.
Here we provide a new paradigm and show that vinculin is a complex mechanosensor itself, containing 6 binary switch domains.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
That’s been the prevailing view for the 46 years since it was discovered.
Here we provide a new paradigm and show that vinculin is a complex mechanosensor itself, containing 6 binary switch domains.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
Funders must recognise that great discoveries often come from studies that seeks to advance knowledge for its own sake
go.nature.com/47zrzYZ
go.nature.com/47zrzYZ
From MRI to Ozempic: breakthroughs that show why fundamental research must be protected
In these financially straitened times, funders must recognize that great discoveries often arise from work that was looking for something completely different.
go.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Funders must recognise that great discoveries often come from studies that seeks to advance knowledge for its own sake
go.nature.com/47zrzYZ
go.nature.com/47zrzYZ
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
Tomorrow Wednesday 29th at 11am, lesson #3 of @neilshubin.bsky.social guest Professor @college-de-france.fr on ‘The evolutionary origin of bones and teeth’. The second lesson is available @ www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B6y... . No registration, Free access, dentures accepted.
October 28, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Tomorrow Wednesday 29th at 11am, lesson #3 of @neilshubin.bsky.social guest Professor @college-de-france.fr on ‘The evolutionary origin of bones and teeth’. The second lesson is available @ www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B6y... . No registration, Free access, dentures accepted.
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
"Jane Goodall showed us what a life in science could look like: rigorous discovery paired with fierce advocacy for what you study. She gave the world six decades of groundbreaking research on chimpanzees and their habitats, then turned that knowledge into a global movement for conservation." (1/2)
October 2, 2025 at 1:47 PM
"Jane Goodall showed us what a life in science could look like: rigorous discovery paired with fierce advocacy for what you study. She gave the world six decades of groundbreaking research on chimpanzees and their habitats, then turned that knowledge into a global movement for conservation." (1/2)
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
SMAD4 induces opposite effects on metastatic growth from pancreatic tumors depending on the organ of residence
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
SMAD4 induces opposite effects on metastatic growth from pancreatic tumors depending on the organ of residence - Nature Cancer
Using mouse pancreatic cancer models, Tsanov et al. show that reactivation of SMAD4 at metastatic sites promotes tumor growth in the lung through RUNX1 but restrains metastatic growth through KLF4 in the liver, influenced by organ-specific epigenetic states.
www.nature.com
September 29, 2025 at 7:55 PM
SMAD4 induces opposite effects on metastatic growth from pancreatic tumors depending on the organ of residence
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
Thrilled to share our new paper @cp-cell.bsky.social:
“Microglia–astrocyte crosstalk regulates synapse remodeling via Wnt signaling.”
This work demonstrates the necessity of glia–glia communication and coordination during synapse remodeling.
🔗 www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Faust et al., Cell 2025
“Microglia–astrocyte crosstalk regulates synapse remodeling via Wnt signaling.”
This work demonstrates the necessity of glia–glia communication and coordination during synapse remodeling.
🔗 www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Faust et al., Cell 2025
September 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Thrilled to share our new paper @cp-cell.bsky.social:
“Microglia–astrocyte crosstalk regulates synapse remodeling via Wnt signaling.”
This work demonstrates the necessity of glia–glia communication and coordination during synapse remodeling.
🔗 www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Faust et al., Cell 2025
“Microglia–astrocyte crosstalk regulates synapse remodeling via Wnt signaling.”
This work demonstrates the necessity of glia–glia communication and coordination during synapse remodeling.
🔗 www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Faust et al., Cell 2025
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
We are hiring! 2 years postdoctoral fellowship, to work on the generation of all-human, vascularized and innervated organ-on-chip systems & model infection & inflammation - in Sweden 🇸🇪 @liu.se
Details in the link - please help me spreading the announcement!
liu.se/en/organisat...
Details in the link - please help me spreading the announcement!
liu.se/en/organisat...
Open positions in bioengineering
Learn more about open scholarship positions in bioengineering at IFM.
liu.se
September 3, 2025 at 3:01 PM
We are hiring! 2 years postdoctoral fellowship, to work on the generation of all-human, vascularized and innervated organ-on-chip systems & model infection & inflammation - in Sweden 🇸🇪 @liu.se
Details in the link - please help me spreading the announcement!
liu.se/en/organisat...
Details in the link - please help me spreading the announcement!
liu.se/en/organisat...
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
SOX2 and NR2F1 cooperate
to make #neurons in the #Thalamus
for visual input from the #retina
#DevBio
journals.biologists.com/bio/article/...
@biologyopen.bsky.social
In collab w Sara Mercurio and Silvia Nicolis @btbsunimib.bsky.social
Driven by Linda Serra and @annanordin.bsky.social
to make #neurons in the #Thalamus
for visual input from the #retina
#DevBio
journals.biologists.com/bio/article/...
@biologyopen.bsky.social
In collab w Sara Mercurio and Silvia Nicolis @btbsunimib.bsky.social
Driven by Linda Serra and @annanordin.bsky.social
SOX2 and NR2F1 coordinate the gene expression program of the early postnatal visual thalamus
Summary: The transcriptional regulators SOX2 and NR2F1 drive the development of the visual thalamus. Mutations in these genes cause visual impairment in humans.
journals.biologists.com
August 11, 2025 at 12:55 PM
SOX2 and NR2F1 cooperate
to make #neurons in the #Thalamus
for visual input from the #retina
#DevBio
journals.biologists.com/bio/article/...
@biologyopen.bsky.social
In collab w Sara Mercurio and Silvia Nicolis @btbsunimib.bsky.social
Driven by Linda Serra and @annanordin.bsky.social
to make #neurons in the #Thalamus
for visual input from the #retina
#DevBio
journals.biologists.com/bio/article/...
@biologyopen.bsky.social
In collab w Sara Mercurio and Silvia Nicolis @btbsunimib.bsky.social
Driven by Linda Serra and @annanordin.bsky.social
We are hiring! 2 years postdoctoral fellowship, to work on the generation of all-human, vascularized and innervated organ-on-chip systems & model infection & inflammation - in Sweden 🇸🇪 @liu.se
Details in the link - please help me spreading the announcement!
liu.se/en/organisat...
Details in the link - please help me spreading the announcement!
liu.se/en/organisat...
Open positions in bioengineering
Learn more about open scholarship positions in bioengineering at IFM.
liu.se
September 3, 2025 at 3:01 PM
We are hiring! 2 years postdoctoral fellowship, to work on the generation of all-human, vascularized and innervated organ-on-chip systems & model infection & inflammation - in Sweden 🇸🇪 @liu.se
Details in the link - please help me spreading the announcement!
liu.se/en/organisat...
Details in the link - please help me spreading the announcement!
liu.se/en/organisat...
Glad to share the latest effort to emulate dental tissues on-chip: an organ-on-chip design including human dental pulp stem cells & HUVECs, odontoblasts, and a dentin powder-containing compartment, all innervated by mouse trigeminal ganglia! 👇🏼
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
An Innovative “Tooth‐On‐Chip” Microfluidic Device Emulating the Structure and Physiology of the Dental Pulp Tissue
This work presents a “tooth-on-chip” device that mimics dental pulp tissue. By co-culturing key cell types, it recreates vascular networks, stem cell niches, the odontoblast/dentine interface, and tr...
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
August 29, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Glad to share the latest effort to emulate dental tissues on-chip: an organ-on-chip design including human dental pulp stem cells & HUVECs, odontoblasts, and a dentin powder-containing compartment, all innervated by mouse trigeminal ganglia! 👇🏼
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
If we lose our inner ear hair cells, we lose our hearing.. but reptiles can repair their sensory organs 🐊🤩
Tune in to Vetenskapspodden on Swedish radio P1, Sun 07:03, Mon 18:33, or bit.ly/4oCDHzP from Sunday, to hear me & Helge Rask-Andersen discuss crocodiles & regeneration with Lena Nordlund!
Tune in to Vetenskapspodden on Swedish radio P1, Sun 07:03, Mon 18:33, or bit.ly/4oCDHzP from Sunday, to hear me & Helge Rask-Andersen discuss crocodiles & regeneration with Lena Nordlund!
August 15, 2025 at 9:48 AM
If we lose our inner ear hair cells, we lose our hearing.. but reptiles can repair their sensory organs 🐊🤩
Tune in to Vetenskapspodden on Swedish radio P1, Sun 07:03, Mon 18:33, or bit.ly/4oCDHzP from Sunday, to hear me & Helge Rask-Andersen discuss crocodiles & regeneration with Lena Nordlund!
Tune in to Vetenskapspodden on Swedish radio P1, Sun 07:03, Mon 18:33, or bit.ly/4oCDHzP from Sunday, to hear me & Helge Rask-Andersen discuss crocodiles & regeneration with Lena Nordlund!
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
Our work bridging enhancer-promoter proximity to phenotypic outcomes in vivo is out! Shout out to @olimpiabompadre.bsky.social, to Marie Kmita's lab, and to all the co-authors. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Liebenberg syndrome severity arises from variations in Pitx1 locus topology and proportion of ectopically transcribing cells - Nature Communications
Here the authors show that reducing enhancer-promoter distance at the Pitx1 locus increases proportion of Pitx1 forelimb expressing cells, worsening skeletal defects in Liebenberg syndrome. They also ...
www.nature.com
July 9, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Our work bridging enhancer-promoter proximity to phenotypic outcomes in vivo is out! Shout out to @olimpiabompadre.bsky.social, to Marie Kmita's lab, and to all the co-authors. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
Can using synthetic approaches to build biology help teach us the design principles of how embryos build themselves? 👷♀️🔧
If this is a question that interests you, come and share your thoughts at this Royal Society Workshop on Generative Biology
royalsociety.org/science-even...
If this is a question that interests you, come and share your thoughts at this Royal Society Workshop on Generative Biology
royalsociety.org/science-even...
July 3, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Can using synthetic approaches to build biology help teach us the design principles of how embryos build themselves? 👷♀️🔧
If this is a question that interests you, come and share your thoughts at this Royal Society Workshop on Generative Biology
royalsociety.org/science-even...
If this is a question that interests you, come and share your thoughts at this Royal Society Workshop on Generative Biology
royalsociety.org/science-even...
Always a great pleasure to see high-level work on tooth 🦷& craniofacial development!
Huge congratulations, Mizuki Nagata & Wanida Ono, on publishing these beautiful back-to-back papers in Nature Communications! Mizuki's 7 years of persistence finally paid off!
The second one is a story about Hedgehog and alveolar bone formation:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The second one is a story about Hedgehog and alveolar bone formation:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A Hedgehog–Foxf axis coordinates dental follicle-derived alveolar bone formation - Nature Communications
The alveolar bone supports the tooth’s lifelong functionality. Here, the authors identify a tooth-specific mechanism of bone formation in which the Hedgehog–Foxf pathway regulates the alveolar bone os...
www.nature.com
July 2, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Always a great pleasure to see high-level work on tooth 🦷& craniofacial development!
Closed up the Wnt Signaling GRS/GRC - honoured for the possibility of serving as co-chair in this amazing event!
June 28, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Closed up the Wnt Signaling GRS/GRC - honoured for the possibility of serving as co-chair in this amazing event!
Incredibly useful thread! Thank you @juliaeckert.bsky.social !!
What do we see when looking at cells under the microscope? 👉Some are bigger than others, some are elongated and align with the neighbors & others seem to move. Cool, right? But wouldn't it be cooler to quantify these observations?
I'm @juliaeckert.bsky.social. Let's explore some analysis software!
I'm @juliaeckert.bsky.social. Let's explore some analysis software!
June 8, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Incredibly useful thread! Thank you @juliaeckert.bsky.social !!
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
What is buckling, and why is it relevant in understanding epithelial morphogenesis? 🧐
I am @onenimesa.bsky.social and I will share some papers to understand this aspect of #EpithelialMechanics
I am @onenimesa.bsky.social and I will share some papers to understand this aspect of #EpithelialMechanics
May 25, 2025 at 1:41 PM
What is buckling, and why is it relevant in understanding epithelial morphogenesis? 🧐
I am @onenimesa.bsky.social and I will share some papers to understand this aspect of #EpithelialMechanics
I am @onenimesa.bsky.social and I will share some papers to understand this aspect of #EpithelialMechanics
Reposted by Pierfrancesco Pagella
Modular integration of epithelial, microbial, and immune components to study human intestinal biology. Amazing team project with Rubén López-Sandoval, Marius F. Harter, Qianhui Yu, Matthias Lütolf, Mikhail Nikolaev, and Nikolche Gjorevski! biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
May 9, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Modular integration of epithelial, microbial, and immune components to study human intestinal biology. Amazing team project with Rubén López-Sandoval, Marius F. Harter, Qianhui Yu, Matthias Lütolf, Mikhail Nikolaev, and Nikolche Gjorevski! biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Always amazed by the sheer amount of e-mail traffic wasted by hopeless academic spam: this time, "dear Prof. [NAME]", "any contribution", from a "MEGA Journal of Case Reports" - waiting for Giga, Tera, and more!
May 22, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Always amazed by the sheer amount of e-mail traffic wasted by hopeless academic spam: this time, "dear Prof. [NAME]", "any contribution", from a "MEGA Journal of Case Reports" - waiting for Giga, Tera, and more!