Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 22/04/2025iib.uam.es/short?i=MpszRPiib.uam.esKey mechanism in the control of cellular architecture - iib.uam.esUncovering a key mechanism in the control of cellular architecture 21 Apr | 2025 A study led by Miguel Sánchez-Alvarez from IIBM uncovers a mechanism that allows for the coordination between... 020
Reposted by Chris BakalThe Institute of Cancer Research @icr.ac.uk · 20/03/2025ICR's Professor @cbakal.bsky.social & his team have developed an #AI tool that can show how cancer cells respond to new drugs, by observing changes to their 3D shape. He spoke to @lbc.co.uk News about how this will slash years off the drug development process ⬇️ www.icr.ac.uk/about-us/icr... 012
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 21/04/2025What if a cell’s shape was determined not just by its genes, but by the stress it's under? What if the same stress that helps a cell survive also changes its internal scaffolding, making it more rigid, polarized, and more likely to invade? And what if a single kinase was orchestrating all of this? 020
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 25/01/2025A #metastatic #melanoma cancer cell invading a #Collagen matrix. This particular cell is making a number of large protrusions to search its environment 030
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 12/01/2025I am going to send this book as a present to all those obsessed with mRNA expression these days. Perhaps they will think twice regarding the benefit of it! www.nature.com/articles/d41...nature.comIt’s time to admit that genes are not the blueprint for lifeThe view of biology often presented to the public is oversimplified and out of date. Scientists must set the record straight, argues a new book. 010
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 11/01/2025As someone said to me lately...."It's clear from the laboured metaphor that you wrote this title". 😆 That said.. I think it's important to think about some of the limitations of using #AI in analysing complex #cancer #pathology images. More explanation to follow... rdcu.be/d5VaZrdcu.beNot seeing the trees for the forest. The impact of neighbours on graph-based configurations in histopathology 040
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 01/12/2024In doing so, we are starting to understand the cause and consequence of what Galvani was seeing in frog legs. #Bioelectricity in cancer cells! 000
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 01/12/2024In many ways our tools are essentially galvanoscopes! Albeit with far greater resolution, sensitivity, and applicability. A notable difference from a few centuries ago is my lab is developing #machinelearning and generativeAI to analyse data coming from microscopes and biosensors. 100
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 01/12/2024In parallel, we have a long-standing collaboration with Pantelis Georgiou to develop CMOS biochip sensors to measure bioelectric activity across tissues – setting the stage for diagnostics buff.ly/4fQkohU 100
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 01/12/2024I can’t decide if in 2024 we have come a long way – or really not so far! Working with Amanda Foust and Mustafa Djamgoz at Imperial College London we have been imaging voltage using new microscopy in cancer. buff.ly/4i9Rafp 110
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 01/12/2024Galvani also invented the #galvanoscope as a way to measure bioelectricity in frog legs. 100
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 01/12/2024In the late 1700s, Luigi Galvani showed how he could make the legs of a frog twitch when touched by an electric current – starting the field of #bioelectricity. In one experiment Galvani tried to reproduce this observation by wiring a frog to a lighting rod. 120
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 29/11/2024Dynamical Cell Systems inFocus 2024: This year Vicky Bousgouni defended her PhD! Vicky performed colllagen hydrogel based screens ever to identify genes that regulate #melanoma invasion. She identified ARHGEF9 which is essential for melanoma to change #cellshape in 3D. buff.ly/4ieynjg 010
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 26/11/2024In May we published in #CellReports describing our study using high-throughput #lightsheet microscopy to investigate the #3D morphogenesis of melanoma cells during invasion, a process critical to #metastasis. Part of the Dynamical Cell Systems Team in-focus 2024. buff.ly/415jwBn 052
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 23/11/2024Why do some children get sick from #COVID, but not others? Here #alphaFold was used to determine how genetic variation affects the structure of the BTLN8 protein. This provided mechanistic insight as to how genetic differences leads to different responses to infection. rupress.org/jem/article/...rupress.orgHeterozygous BTNL8 variants in individuals with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) | Journal of Experimental Medicine | Rockefeller University PressBellos et al. identify an enrichment of rare, damaging variants in BTNL8 in MIS-C patients. These variants result in impaired Vγ4+ γδ T cell engagement ass 041
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 17/11/2024 #Sentinal4D and my lab at the Institute of Cancer Research have developed Al methods to analyze videos of #cancer cells, and measure how #cellshape changes over time. We are using this technology to understand how drugs work, and find new cancer therapeutics. link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...link.springer.comInterpretable Phenotypic Profiling of 3D Cellular MorphodynamicsThe dynamic 3D shape of a cell acts as a signal of its physiological state, reflecting the interplay of environmental stimuli and intra- and extra-cellular processes. However, there is little quantita... 053
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 17/11/2024 You have to capture and analyze video footage. The samee goes for cells. Studying fixed cells (whether an image, a transcriptome, or a proteome) will only get you so far. You won'ta really be able to understand how cancer develops, or how a drug works unless you look at cells over time. 110
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 17/11/2024Why is Biles a great gymnast? Messi the best football player? Jagger an amazing lead singer? Just by looking at still photos of them it would be impossible to figure it out. Similarly, you couldn't find the NEXT Biles, Messi, or Jagger by looking through still pictures. 110
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 16/11/2024These are Melanoma cells invading 3D Collagen Hydrogel. We think this is similar to how they move in a patient's body. If we can stop these #cellshape changes, we hope to stop #cancers from spreading. #filipodiafriday 010
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 15/11/2024But adding MYCN does make the output more interpretable (and likely trustable), by pathologists. That way decisions regarding treatment are not made based only what the Al 'sees'. 000
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 15/11/2024So... does adding more data always improve prediction accuracy? Not always. Integrating MYCN status doesn't necessarily enhance accuracy. In fact, image-based data alone yields comparable predictive power to multimodal data. And looking at the images is better than using MYCN status alone. 100
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 15/11/2024In our latest work, Reed Naidoo developed #SurvivMIL, a multimodal, multiple-instance learning model designed to improve survival predictions for #neuroblastoma patients by combining Whole Slide Images (WSIs) with simple patient health data (age, sex, MYCN status). openreview.net/forum?id=7o2... 100
Chris Bakal @cbakal.bsky.social · 14/11/2024I am a #Professor at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, UK. My research aims to understand how #cancer cells change their shape to drive disease. In particular we are interested in the connection between shape, Cancer, and #inflammation. To study #cellshape we use advanced imaging and #AI. 040
