Pierre Mattar
pierre-mattar.bsky.social
Pierre Mattar
@pierre-mattar.bsky.social
Pinned
Two new papers to... er... skeet? Blurt? Bluert?

First is that our paper on the transcription factor Adnp and the ChAHP chromatin remodelling complex is now out.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

I already blurted the paper here: bsky.app/profile/pier...
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
Excited to share our paper with Ghayda Mirzaa describing the novel SMARCA1-related NDD. Out today in Nature Communications.
rdcu.be/ePaDp
Pathogenic variants in SMARCA1 cause an X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder modulated by NURF complex composition
Nature Communications - The authors identify pathogenic variants in the SMARCA1 gene as the cause of a variable neurodevelopmental disorder. Mouse studies suggest diverse genetic mechanisms related...
rdcu.be
November 10, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
Our latest paper is out! While the circadian photoentrainment circuit has been extensively studied, the mechanisms regulating its development remain poorly understood. Here we show that retinal Müller glia play a key role in this process. Check it out! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Retinal glia regulate development of the circadian photoentrainment circuit
Circadian photoentrainment depends on intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), which convey environmental light information to th…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
New preprints from the lab (3)! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 10, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
Our paper is out today! In @tiffmschmidt.bsky.social lab, we identified a single transcription factor, BRN3B, that shapes multiple, key features that define diverse ipRGC subtypes🧬👁️🐭
Genetic tuning of retinal ganglion cell subtype identity to drive visual behavior
Nature Communications - This study reveals that graded expression of the transcription factor BRN3B fine-tunes the identity and function of melanopsin-expressing ipRGC subtypes in the retina....
urldefense.com
September 30, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
New preprints from the lab!! (2)
Uncoupling Neocortical Neuron Fate and Migration via a Let-7-RBX2 Axis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.11.675676v1
September 17, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
A big thanks to the NEI for supporting my new R01 and MCW for highlighting the research focus. We’ve already made some interesting discoveries and I’m excited to see how the research progresses for years to come. www.mcw.edu/mcwknowledge...
Preventing Blindness by Untangling the Genetic Network of Vision Neurons
Dr. Joel Miesfeld’s lab studies the mechanisms behind retinal ganglion cells to better understand vision development.
www.mcw.edu
September 16, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
Happy to share the definitive version of our last paper about the role of TET enzymes and DNA demethylation in retinal development @clark-lab-retina.bsky.social journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Active DNA demethylation upstream of rod-photoreceptor fate determination is required for retinal development
TET enzymes remove DNA methylation markers, but the role of this process in retinal development is not clear. This study shows that these enzymes are required for photoreceptor cells to initiate the g...
journals.plos.org
September 4, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
Our work on the TET enzymes in retinal development is out. We identified that rod fate is inhibited when DNA demethylation is prevented by removal of the TET enzymes. Interestingly, photoreceptor numbers are normal. We utilized WGBS and bACE-seq to profile the precise localization of 5mC and 5hmC,…
TET enzymes remove #DNAmethylation markers; @ismaelhdeznunez.bsky.social @clark-lab-retina.bsky.social &co show that these enzymes are required for #photoreceptor cells to initiate the genetic program to become rods instead of cones, & for maturation of the #retina @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/3UaVBfl
August 6, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
TET enzymes remove #DNAmethylation markers; @ismaelhdeznunez.bsky.social @clark-lab-retina.bsky.social &co show that these enzymes are required for #photoreceptor cells to initiate the genetic program to become rods instead of cones, & for maturation of the #retina @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/3UaVBfl
August 5, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
If you're interested in how Mef2c tunes neuronal response to repulsive guidance cues in the cortex, here's a link to the paper: www.jneurosci.org/content/45/2...
Mef2c Controls Postnatal Callosal Axon Targeting by Regulating Sensitivity to Ephrin Repulsion
Intracortical circuits, including long-range callosal projections, are crucial for information processing. The development of neuronal connectivity in the cerebral cortex is contingent on ordered emer...
www.jneurosci.org
May 24, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
So you want to study the optic nerve head. You’re thinking a Pax2-Cre driver should work, right? Well, think again: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40300047/
Excluding the Genomic Location of Pax2 Regulatory Elements for the Developing Mouse Eye - PubMed
The Pax2 transcription factor is activated uniformly in the optic vesicle/cup, but becomes progressively restricted to the forming optic disc and stalk. In the eye, it is not known how Pax2 expression...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
April 30, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
Our latest manuscript (7 years in the works) tackles the question of how diurnal ground squirrels evolved a cone-dominant retina, in contrast to the ancestral rod-dominant retina retained by virtually all other mammals./1
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Heterochronic transcription factor expression drives cone-dominant retina development in 13-lined ground squirrels.
Evolutionary adaptation to diurnal vision in ground squirrels has led to the development of a cone-dominant retina, in stark contrast to the rod-dominant retinas of most mammals. The molecular mechani...
www.biorxiv.org
April 29, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
Funded PhD Studentship available in my lab at @lsiexeter.bsky.social.
Want to study how chromatin remodellers act on enhancers to facilitate cell fate decisions in human pluripotent cells? Want to work and live in a lively city by the sea? Get in touch/Apply!
lsi.exeter.ac.uk/groups/hendr...
Hendrich Group - Starting Sept 2025 - Living Systems Institute - University of Exeter
Opportunity for LSI PHD studentship – starting in September 2025 or January 2026 PhD Studentship applications will open on 1st...
lsi.exeter.ac.uk
April 12, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
My lab studies mechanisms of pediatric glaucoma and the development of tissues affected (Schlemm's canal and trabecular meshwork). I am getting creative with fundraising because, well... So if you know someone who might be interested in funding our work: joinus.cuimc.columbia.edu/index.cfm?fu...
I'm supporting Your Columbia!
Your Columbia is your opportunity to be a part of the unparalleled research, education, and clinical care that takes place every day at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. It’s a potent and imp...
joinus.cuimc.columbia.edu
March 27, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
After injury some RGCs survive but do they thrive? In this collaboration with Jonathan Demb's lab (Yale), we looked into the physiology of resilient RGCs after axon injury. Their visual responses largely remain intact but they exhibit reduced intrinsic excitability, coincident with AIS disassembly.
February 25, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Momentous day yesterday as Ivana Herrera successfully defended her doctoral thesis. Huge congratulations to her (seated center). Very proud of her!
February 22, 2025 at 8:46 PM
February 9, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
We’re hiring a new research fellow. Come join us in London to study glial cells in the ageing retina using killifish as a model. www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
February 7, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Jack this morning: It warm!!
February 5, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
First post on this platform is to announce that our preprint is posted to bioRxiv:

bioRxiv 2025.02.03.636318; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
doi.org
February 4, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
Happy Black History Month ✊🏾

This month, as we do every month, we celebrate Black history and all the many accomplishments our people have made inside and outside of science.

We are all Black history yall. We love our community and wish you all joy and peace 🖤
February 3, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
Looking for a high qualtiy scientific meeting being held in Canada this year? The 12th Canadian Developmental Biology Meeting (Regional SDB @socdevbio.bsky.social meeting) is happening May 25-28 in Kelowna BC. Registration is now open! www.sdbonline.org/meeting?Reso...
Society for Developmental Biology | Meeting
www.sdbonline.org
February 3, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Reposted by Pierre Mattar
NEW PAPER ALERT! In this paper that was posted today on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social, Felix Simon from our lab at @ijmonod.bsky.social (with important contributions by Isabel Holguera and a small contribution from yours truly) completed the trifecta. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Establishment of terminal selector combinations in optic lobe neurons
The medulla is the part of the Drosophila optic lobe with the greatest neuronal diversity, in which the identity of each neuronal type is specified in progenitors and newborn neurons via the integrati...
www.biorxiv.org
January 29, 2025 at 2:55 PM