The first paper from our lab, titled “Tissue rigidity phase transition shapes morphogen gradients,” has been published in Nature Cell Biology! The work explores how tissue-scale mechanics is linked to morphogen signaling and for the first time shows how these parameters dynamically tune one another both in time and space to regulate cell fate decisions during zebrafish development.

The paper’s briefing can also be found here.

The image attached is an acrylic painting on canvas by Ayelen Valko titled “Forces of Fate” inspired by the paper. The artwork depicts a lateral view of an early zebrafish embryo, with orange tones illustrating the diffusion of Nodal morphogen from the vegetal to the animal pole. This gradient generates differential rigidity along the animal–vegetal axis, as reported by the paper. A geometric polygonal background evokes the interconnected cellular network that changes with tissue rigidity.