iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Excited to share two back-to-back manuscripts on microtubule lattice organization! The first, led by Jaya Mishra from my lab, describes how short, curved microtubule filaments can be used as a simple in-cell readout of compact microtubule lattice regions.

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Will be hiring a postdoctoral researcher to work on primary cilia and/or mechanics in brain cell types, primarily neurons. Expertise in cilia biology is important, but most importantly we are looking for a true cilia enthusiast. Experience in neuroscience is not required.

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Helena Watson @helenawatson.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Preprint 🧵! I’m really excited to introduce BIGSMALL, an interleaved multi-magnification cryo-ET scheme bridging molecular and cellular scales in a single acquisition! BIGSMALL = 𝐁road 𝐈nformation 𝐆athering 𝐒trategy by 𝐌ultiscale 𝐀cquisition of lame𝐋𝐋a www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... (1/6)

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Looking forward to sharing our work here!

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

What distinguishes dopamine vesicles from other synaptic vesicles? Our new preprint addresses this question: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Huge shoutout to @Kenshiro Fujise for the stunning EM images! 🎉

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Erwin Frey @physicsoflifelmu.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

🧪⚛️ Surface tension—driven by non-equilibrium currents not forces—in pattern formation leads to the same type of interface laws as in liquid foams: Plateau laws, von Neumann evolution; and a new emergent phenomenon: domain splitting akin to cell division. nature.com/articles/s4156…

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

At ASCB this year in Philly? Will speak about MT lattice spacing in cells and neurons 🙂 See info below..

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Aaron J Farrugia @aaronfarrugia.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

How do cells recognize matrix topography? In this preprint we show that α5β1-integrin fibrillar adhesions rapidly form in response to topographic cues like electrospun nanofibers- no actomyosin contractility, focal adhesions or fibronectin secretion needed doi.org/10.1101/2025...

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Please join me for the upcoming talk in the neurocolloquium!

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Listened to the talk by the first author at SfN and was pleasantly surprised to see so many synaptic proteins, including my all-time favorite: synaptojanin-1!

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David Mick @mick-lab.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Thrilled to share "in situ APEX activation" (iAPEX), a proximity labeling technology for subcellular #proteomics applied to primary #cilia. iAPEX uses an enzymatic cascade, in which a D-amino acid oxidase locally produces H2O2 to activate ascorbate peroxidase. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

An enzymatic cascade enables sensitive and specific proximity labeling proteomics in challenging biological systems - Nature Communications

Proximity labeling allows proteomic mapping of subcellular structures. Here, Sroka et al. develop in situ APEX activation (iAPEX) to overcome limitations of labeling specificity and H2O2 toxicity, app...

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Nicole F. Wong @strontiumpup.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

If you’re at #sfn25 you definitely don’t want to miss this nanosymposium on cilia, tomorrow from 1-4pm! Come learn about neuronal cilia, they do some pretty cool stuff!

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Trends in Neurosciences @cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

'Redefining dopaminergic synapses beyond the classical paradigm' Kenshiro Fujise, Jaya Mishra, Nasser Karmali & Nisha M. Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social www.cell.com/trends/neuro...

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Do you like following rules… but also breaking them? So does your dopaminergic synapse! 😎🧠 Our new Trends in Neurosciences review dives into the non-classical side of dopamine signaling, notably the tools reshaping how we see it (CLEM, cryo-CLEM, serial EM + more).

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Michael Hanna @mike-hanna.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

New paper alert! I’m very excited to share our paper published in @embojournal.org! @pdc-lab.bsky.social @yaleneuro.bsky.social

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Journal of Cell Biology @jcb.org · 03/09/2025

@anbangdai.bsky.social et al. @pdc-lab.bsky.social report the localization of BLTP2 in different human cell types & reveal binding partners that mediate its tethering to the PM & to PM-connected structures including certain #endosomes & #macropinosomes undergoing fusion rupress.org/jcb/article/...

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Anaïs Bailles @anaisbailles.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Very happy that the first article from my postdoc work in the Tomancak lab is now published @PNAS! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/.... We studied the self-organization of actin in aggregates made from Hydra cells. Thread below (1/9)

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Cilia in the brain! Depiction on angular and orientation information across different parts of the mouse brain...

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Rita Strack @ritastrack.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Did you know that Bioimage Archive has a specific database for people to share AI-ready imaging datasets? I did not until @yanlanmao.bsky.social told me! Please deposit! If people regularly submitted, it would have a huge collective impact on bioimage analysis. www.ebi.ac.uk/bioimage-arc...

ebi.ac.uk

BioImageArchive < The European Bioinformatics Institute < EMBL-EBI

The BioImageArchive – a free, publicly available online resource which stores and distributes biological images

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Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · 05/05/2025

EU augments opportunities for scientists around the world to launch or re-launch their careers in Europe.

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Sam Rodriques @sgrodriques.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Today, FutureHouse is releasing the first dedicated AI Agents for Science, via our Platform. These agents are able to perform a wide variety of scientific tasks better than humans. With the platform, we are bringing these capabilities to the wider community. 1/2

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Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 20/04/2025

A package of research papers from the MICrONS (Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks) consortium in Nature and Nature Methods provides a detailed map of mouse brain cell structure and connections, offering insights into how they relate to activity in the mouse brain. 🧪

go.nature.com

The MICrONS Project

An unprecedented dataset of high resolution anatomical images of individual cells in mouse visual cortex, mapped on to their responses. This integrated view of function and structure lays a foundation for discovering the computational bases of cortical circuits.

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Maureen Barr @barrlab.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

We're live! @inikon.bsky.social used modular proximity labeling to identify ciliary EV cargo in #celegans. This EV-TurboID approach can be applied in cell- & tissue-specific manners to define the composition of distinct EV subtypes, a major challenge of the EV field. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

Polycystins recruit cargo to distinct ciliary extracellular vesicle subtypes in C. elegans - Nature Communications

Decoding the content of extracellular vesicles (EVs) is key to understanding cell communication. Nikonorova et al. used targeted proximity labeling to uncover polycystin EV cargo and cargo-loading mec...

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Eid Mubarak! May this special day bring peace, joy, and blessings to you and your loved ones. 😊

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Sergiu P. Pasca @sergiuppasca.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Constrained roads to complex brains Neural development and brain circuit evolution converged in birds and mammals www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

Constrained roads to complex brains

Neural development and brain circuit evolution converged in birds and mammals

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Paul Lapios 🧘‍♂️ @paulosh.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Very happy to share our last preprint where we investigated the vesicular organization of dopamine hub synapses with cryo-CLEM. It is a brain structure that emerges as an important regulator of striatal activity. Many thanks to David Perrais, Etienne Herzog and the lab of @fronzeslab.bsky.social !

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

"DA vesicles are bigger and less round" in synaptosomes, beautiful cryoEM images! We too showed this in iPSC-derived DA neurons, of course using just regular EM 😃 See link here: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Exciting times for non-classical synapse!

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Neuronal cilia and ubiquitination

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Our paper on the phase separation of synaptophysin+ and dopamine+ vesicles, as well as their co-existence in iPSC-derived DA neurons, is now online! 🤓 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Nisha Rafiq @nishamrafiq.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Our review on the emerging roles for primary cilia in synapses and neurological disorders is now online! 😃https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962892424002319

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