1st McKinley Lab grad student’s 1st preprint!
@claireang.bsky.social studied how the uterus safely excises massive amounts of tissue during menstruation and pregnancy.
Come for her GORGEOUS images, stay for her incredible discoveries.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
w/ @akelleher1017.bsky.social
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Huge thanks to all the collaborators who made this work possible! Especially the Capel Lab, our partners in crime in this story!
If you’re interested in metabolism, germ cells, or gonadal development, check out the paper 👇
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
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This reveals a metabolic coupling between Sertoli cells and germ cells in the fetal testis.
Sertoli cells break down glycogen → lactate, which is then transported 🚀 to support germ cell survival.
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We then tested the lactate shuttle 🚀.
Sertoli cells export lactate through MCT4, which can be imported by germ cells via MCT1.
Blocking this transport phenocopied the glycogen loss: germ cells were reduced ⬇️
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When glycogen metabolism was disrupted:
• Testicular lactate levels dropped
• Germ cell numbers decreased ⬇️
This suggested that glycogen in Sertoli cells might be used to support germ cells metabolically.
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We tested whether glycogen 🍬is required for Sertoli cell differentiation.
Surprisingly:
❌ Blocking glycogen synthesis does NOT prevent Sertoli cell fate.
So glycogen isn’t needed to specify Sertoli cells.
But something else was happening…
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One intriguing observation in mouse embryos 🐭
During sex determination, Sertoli cells accumulate large glycogen stores 🍬 Only between E11.5-E13.5 ⏱️
So… what is this glycogen doing?
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Metabolism is increasingly recognized as a driver of developmental processes ⚙️
But during gonadal differentiation, we still know surprisingly little about how metabolic pathways influence cell differentiation and survival.
🚨New paper out in Cell Reports ‼️
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Why do fetal Sertoli cells store glycogen 🍬 during testis development?
It turns out they are feeding germ cells.
We discovered a previously unrecognized metabolic coupling between Sertoli cells and germ cells in the fetal testis 🧵
Society for Developmental Biology Ethel Browne Harvey Postdoctoral Seminar Series Friday, March 13, 2026, 3:00pm - 4:00 pm Eastern Time Martha Echevarría-Andino (University of Wisconsin-Madison) Hoxa11/Hoxd11 transcription factors regulate extracellular matrix genes during osteochondral differentiation M. Fernanda Palominos (University of California, Berkeley) Novel craniofacial genes linked to extreme jaw evolution in pupfishes revealed by tissue-specific transcriptomics and speciation genomics
The next the Ethel Browne Harvey Postdoc Seminar will be held Friday, February 13 at 3 pm Eastern Time with Martha Echevarría-Andino @uwmadison.bsky.social and M. Fernanda Palominos @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social. Register today and join us. bit.ly/47QVIEK #SDBPostdocSeminar
🤩💪 Out now! 3D regulatory hubs in sex determination
With @mamartirenom.bsky.social & Capel labs, led by @imotagom.bsky.social & @jrotwitguez.bsky.social
1️⃣ METALoci – explore #3DGenome 🧬
2️⃣ Non-coding region controlling Fgf9 🧩
3️⃣ Meis genes = new key players 🌟
👉 rdcu.be/e5sm2
1/n Bluetorial 👇
We’re launching our Latinx DevBio interview series 🌎🧬
Our first inspiring conversation features Dr. Rosa Navarro: Leading Developmental Biology research in Mexico.
Read here: sites.google.com/view/latinxi...
Thanks, Dr. Navarro, for sharing your journey and insights with us! #LatinxInScience
Honored to receive the 2026 R.R. Bensley Award in Cell Biology from the @anatomyorg.bsky.social 🏆 Excited to keep exploring how metabolism, genetics, and epigenetics shape gonadal development and cell differentiation 🧬Grateful to my mentors, collaborators, and lab mates who made this possible.
👋 Welcome to the official BlueSky account of the #VSD scientific community ! This account was created to 👇
-share official announcements
-highlight scientific content & speakers during the #VSD2026 meeting
- support live discussions and help our community stay connected
1/3👇
For this festive season, I’m sending friends and family something a little different: postcards straight from the microscope. 🔬
Featuring my hiPSC Christmas tree from last year and a hiPSC colony turned into a festive bauble, with wishes for a season that’s festive at every scale. 🎄
Are you going to SICB in Jan2026? I can't but I'll be there in spirit with these plates I am donating for the Division of Invertebrate Zoology Libbie Hyman Auction. Show up and support student travel funds by bidding for them! Featuring #membracids #acoels #cnidarians #rotifers @sicb.bsky.social
🎄 Day 1 of the 24 Days of Development ✨🧬
This study shows how different fixation methods (PFA vs. TCA) change what researchers can visualize in chicken embryos using HCR or IHC. 🔍🐣🔬 doi.org/10.1016/j.yd...
🎄✨ Introducing 24 Days of Development!
Each day we’ll highlight one of 2025’s most influential papers published in Developmental Biology, the official journal of the Society for Developmental Biology.
Follow along! 🧬❄️🌟 #DevBio
I can’t believe it’s already been a year! 🎉 Grateful to share this initiative with such an amazing group of Latinx scientists in developmental biology 🙌 More to come! ✨
Beta3-tubulin staining in a whole mount mouse embryo (embryonic day 10) in blue, with neural crest cell derivatives labeled with tdtomato transgene (red).
Happy to report that our recent findings on the innervation of the masseter made the cover of the International Journal of Developmental Biology @isdb.bsky.social .
Early post for #FluorescenceFridays
#DevBio @brchfx.bsky.social 🧪
ijdb.ehu.eus/issue/69/
💚🦴 Fluorescence Friday: Halloween edition! 🎃
This glowing mouse embryo skeleton is serving serious spooky vibes 👻 Who knew bone development could look this eerie and elegant? 💀 Image by @martinestermann.bsky.social
#FluorescenceFriday #SpookyScience
Join us for a new zoom series on metabolism and development. This will be a monthly feature with PIs and trainees presenting.
Sign up here (forms.gle/Y8QzucogKKrZ...) to get the Zoom link and join the mailing list.
We are thrilled to announce the inaugural Metabolism in Development & Physiology virtual seminar, a new series connecting researchers across all stages & disciplines in metabolism!
🗓 13 Nov 2025, 16:00 CET
🎙 Alexander Aulehla (EMBL Heidelberg), &
🎙 Christopher Bell (Uni of Oxford)
See you there!
🚨Excited to kick off our online seminar series on Metabolism in Development and Physiology!
Please help us grow a collaborative and supportive community by joining (<1min): forms.gle/Y8QzucogKKrZ...
#Metabolism #Development #StemCells
Please RT! 🙏
A 5-day old chicken embryo above a yolk. The vasculature and yolk remain in tact.
It is so cool to be able to see things like this (#DevBio) in real life and share it with students. 🤩
🚨LatinxDB organize: “Why didn’t I know this before? What to expect from a PhD or a postdoc in life sciences”
Thanks Estefania Vasquez, M. Fernanda Palominos and Emma Rangel for creating this space and discussion. @niasv.bsky.social @fishfena.bsky.social
Join us at 2025NDiSTEM @sacnas.bsky.social
Poster of Development presents... webinar on Wednesday 15 October at 09:00 BST (UTC+1). Chair: Alex Eve. Details of 2 speakers and talks: Osvaldo Contreras from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, talk titled 'OpenEMMU: A low-cost EdU multiplexing methodology for studying DNA replication and cell cycle dynamics’; then Yinan Wan from Biozentrum University of Basel, talk titled ‘Whole-embryo spatial transcriptomics: from fate to form’.
Our next #DevPres webinar focusses on development across scales with talks from Osvaldo Contreras @osvaldoics.bsky.social & Yinan Wan, chaired by Alex Eve @amjeve.bsky.social
📅 15 October, 09:00 BST (UTC+1)
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Our latest ‘call for preLighters’ closes tonight!
Interested, but didn’t find the time to write an application? Expressions of interest are also welcome – just email us at prelights@biologists.com
Why join? See what other preLighters have to say…⬇️👀
📢To all the sex determination lovers! 📢
Get ready for the 10th International Symposium on the Biology of Vertabrate Sex Determination (VSD).
We exchange the nostalgic Hawaii beaches with the gorgeous Crete beaches 🏖!
The meeting will take place on 23-27 March 2026.
biology-of-vsd.my.canva.site
