iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

When the dance reaches the mouth, a new partner steps in: nodal. Wnt1 enables anterior wnt8, and wnt8 both directly activates foxA (via β‑catenin/TCF) and induces nodal at the stomodeum. Nodal then brings in gooscoid, which is required for foxA and brachyury

100

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

🪩wnt1 KD fails to block the pattern of wnt1 expression 🪩wnt8 KD reduces but fails to block the pattern of wnt8 expression 🪩wnt7 KD inhibits foregut expression of wnt5 but has no effect on wnt5 expression in the ectoderm 🪩wnt5 KD reduces foregut-midgut expression of wnt7

100

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Indeed, there is not one signal at a time. Our temporal scRNA‑seq showed that many cells co‑express multiple Wnts simultaneously, and that co‑expression changes over time. #scRNAseq #bioinformatics

120

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Inside the Wnt1 ring, the choreography calls a figure switch. At the blastopore, cells momentarily express Wnt6, Wnt7, and Wnt16. Crossing into the archenteron, they cast off Wnt6 and Wnt16 but retain Wnt7, making moves to the next figure in the GRN.

110

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Before gastrulation, the Wnt1 ring expands outward as neighboring cells activate it and inner cells extinguish it. During gastrulation, the ring shrinks, tracking the blastopore as Veg1 cells converge, express Wnt1, then turn it off inside #gastrulation

110

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

We used multiplex HCR‑FISH, and mapped six Wnts (Wnt1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16) across developmental stages. Each gene turns on at a different time, then appears sequentially in neighboring cells, producing rings of expression around the blastopore. #HCR #FISH

120

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

During gastrulation, cells don’t just change position they change state. As endoderm cells move toward and through the blastopore, the signals they receive change over time, advancing their gene regulatory networks (GRNs) step by step. #GRN #WntSignaling

110

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

It takes two to tango but gastrulation is a contra dance Cells move through changing partners and signals, and many Wnts act together to keep the choreography coordinated in space and time. That’s the core idea behind our new paper on gut formation in #seaurchins 🧵

1104

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

000

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

We used multiplex HCR‑FISH, and mapped six Wnts (Wnt1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16) across development. Each gene turns on at a different time, then appears sequentially in neighboring cells, producing rings of expression around the blastopore.

110

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

During gastrulation, cells don’t just change position, they change state. As endoderm cells move toward and through the blastopore, the signals they receive change over time, advancing their gene regulatory networks (GRNs) step by step.

100

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

A very appropriate citation report email I got today. Happy Valentine's y'all.

020

Alejandro Berrio Escobar @urchinpapi.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Time-lapsed video of the first cleavage in a Heliocidaris erythrogramma embryo. Taken in my last research trip to Australia.

000