Soile Nymark (@snymark) Bsky

Axonal pathfinding of zebrafish retinal ganglion cells forms the optic nerve. Credit to Dr. Matthew Bostock @houartlab.bsky.social. #ZebrafishZunday 🧪

5 months ago 178 58 4 2

Bridging single cells to organs: Mesoscale modules as fundamental units of tissue function This perspective discusses how small groups of cells work together in their environment as building blocks called mesoscale modules to form tissues and organs and how understanding these modules will ...

The issue also features a Perspective on bridging the gap between single-cell phenotypes and the emergent functions of tissues and organs www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

5 months ago 5 2 0 0

How genetically encoded sensors have lit up neuroscience Tools that track specific molecules in neurons have enabled researchers to probe previously unexplored aspects of neurobiology — although important caveats remain.

How genetically encoded sensors have lit up neuroscience
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

5 months ago 27 12 0 0

What a crazy cool paper! First author @pierreucla.bsky.social with a large crew knocked it out of the park. (GIF below from @the.3i.social LLS) Quantifying cell traction forces at the single-fiber scale in 3D: An approach based on deformable photopolymerized fiber arrays www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

5 months ago 24 8 0 0

When the brain talks back to the eye The state of our brain shapes what we see, but how early in the visual system does this start? This Primer explores a new PLOS Biology study which shows that brain state-dependent release of histamine...

When brain talks back to the eye "The state of our brain shapes what we see, but how early in the visual system does this start? A new study in PLOS Biology shows that brain state-dependent release of histamine modulates the very first stage of vision in the retina" journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

5 months ago 13 7 0 1

Ten essential tips for robust statistics in cell biology - Nature Cell Biology Statistical thinking is a core part of solid, trustworthy biology. However, many studies still include insufficient sample sizes, have poor experimental design or select an incorrect statistical metho...

Required reading for cell biologists to get a sense of basic statistical principles!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

5 months ago 110 45 2 0

This is such a cool paper! Congrats!

5 months ago 2 0 0 0

Retinal glia regulate development of the circadian photoentrainment circuit Circadian photoentrainment depends on intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), which convey environmental light information to th…

Our latest paper is out! While the circadian photoentrainment circuit has been extensively studied, the mechanisms regulating its development remain poorly understood. Here we show that retinal Müller glia play a key role in this process. Check it out! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

5 months ago 42 14 4 2

This is really cool work! Congrats, Olivier, and the whole team!

5 months ago 4 1 0 0

Extremely important K+ and Ca2+ indicator development work in these papers.

6 months ago 4 4 0 0

Subretinal Photovoltaic Implant to Restore Vision in Geographic Atrophy Due to AMD | NEJM Geographic atrophy due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness and affects more than 5 million persons worldwide. No therapies to restore vision in ...

Bigtime publication on retinal prosthesis

@science.xyz implanted 38 patients with macular degeneration with the PRIMA subretinal implant. Paired with camera-equipped glasses, the system improved central vision in 80% of participants, allowing them to read again

@maxhodak.bsky.social #neuroskyence

6 months ago 6 1 0 0

Science and our wider society is advanced through the practice of basic science.

Basic science is the engine that makes it all work.

Janni changed the world through her work in fruit fly embryonic development that taught us about evolution, transcription and cell fate during development.

6 months ago 21 5 0 0

ARVO 2026 Annual Meeting YouTube video by arvoinfo

#ARVO2026 registration is open! Join @arvoinfo.bsky.social in Denver (May 3-7) for an immersion of cutting-edge new eye/#VisionScience under the theme, Achieving precision ophthalmology through innovative #VisionResearch. Sign up early and save: https://youtu.be/OSpr4hlp1OM

6 months ago 3 2 0 0

Brian, we are thrilled to have you here! Amazing, that you and other colleagues came all the way from the States😍

6 months ago 2 0 1 0

An image showing each of the short listed nominees for the Nature Inspiring Women in Science Award with the award logo at the top. "Meet the shortlists for the Inspiring Women in Science Award" is in the middle. The Estee Lauder logo is at the bottom.

We are excited to present the shortlists for the 2025 Nature Awards for Inspiring Women in Science. Congratulations to the thirteen excellent candidates who made it to this year’s shortlist. Read more about the candidates and learn more about the award: go.nature.com/46nlAWy #WomeninStem

7 months ago 31 15 1 1

Webvision – The Organization of the Retina and Visual System

We are pleased to announce that Webvision has been fully migrated to our new home at the University of Pittsburgh. www.webvision.pitt.edu

All traffic should not automatically be redirected from the old URLs, but please update your links.

Heads up: @pittophthalmology.bsky.social

7 months ago 17 6 0 1

Vision scientist Alecia Gross at the lectern talking about retinal degeneration

It’s @alecia144g.bsky.social talking about her work in retinal degeneration at #RD2025

7 months ago 15 2 0 0

Beautiful image! I feel like I recognize this from our amazing tour in Prague😎

7 months ago 1 0 0 0

It’s #NationalPostdocAppreciationWeek! Postdocs are at the heart of discovery and innovation, pushing the boundaries of research and making a lasting impact on science and society. Join us in celebrating their invaluable contributions! #NPAW #Postdocs #FASEB

7 months ago 3 1 0 0

Kun on tässä seurannut tutkimusrahoitukseen liittyvää ns. keskustelua, niin ei voi välttyä ajatukselta, että olemme menossa kohti ankeita aikoja. Ymmärrys rahoituksen roolista tutkimukselle, korkeakoulutukselle ja maan tulevaisuudelle on monilta täysin hukassa. Pieni ketju aiheesta. 1/18

7 months ago 114 22 1 1

Come to the second edition of the world wide sodium channel conference! Submit an abstract by September 26.

7 months ago 5 3 0 0

Awards & Prizes - International Society for Eye Research ISER The 2025 nomination period for the von Sallmann Prize will open October 1, 2025.

Vision Science Folks!

Time is running out to nominate a worthy colleague for an @iser.bsky.social International Prize!

Deadline for the Balasz, Bárány, and Kayser awards is September 8! Get nominatin'!

iser.org/page/Awards_...

7 months ago 6 4 0 0

Top: Inhibition of mTOR signaling rescues cilia formation in Wnt activated cells. RPE1 cells stably expressing mCherry-GFP-LC3 were treated with Co-CM and Wnt3a-CM and fixed 16 h after serum starvation for direct fluorescence analysis of mCherry and GFP signals. Representative images show GFP+mCherry+ foci (yellow dots, autophagosomes). Bottom: Model of how Wnt signaling affects ciliogenesis. Basal Wnt signaling promotes cilia formation, whereas Wnt hyperactivation prior to ciliogenesis delays this process by increasing mTORC1 activity and impairing the removal of OFD1 from centriolar satellites. M, mother centriole; D, daughter centriole.

The #PrimaryCilium regulates several signaling pathways, but what role do these pathways play in #cilium formation? This study shows that modulating Wnt & mTOR signaling affects #ciliogenesis in human retinal epithelial cells @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/45Yg5gB

7 months ago 7 2 0 0

LinkedIn This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

🌍✨ Call for Nominations: ISER International Prizes ✨🌍
@iser.bsky.social is now accepting nominations for its prestigious international prizes! 🏆
📅 Deadline: September 8, 2025
🔗 lnkd.in/eUQMFGsr

Don’t miss the chance to recognize excellence in our field — submit your nomination today!

8 months ago 2 2 0 0

90-vuotias | Seppo Lindblom tietää, miten talous saadaan kasvuun: satsaamalla tieteeseen ja tutkimukseen ”Vahva tiedepolitiikka on ainoa tepsivä tuottavuustemppu, joka lopulta auttaa velka- ja puolustuskuluissa”, Seppo Lindblom sanoo.

Viisautta ja sivistystä huokuu tästä synttärihaastattelusta. Seppo Lindblom puolustaa velanhoidon ja puolustuksen pinteeseen jäänyttä hyvinvointia. Ja tutkimusta!

Paras on silti tämä:
”-Mitä sanoisit 20-vuotiaalle itsellesi?
-En kaksikymppisenä kuuntelisi näin vanhojen miesten neuvoja.”

8 months ago 47 11 0 0

Extremely interesting work. Congrats to the team!

8 months ago 2 0 0 0

Sounds fabulous indeed! I’m sure that the course will be extraordinarily good. My student was admitted but couldn’t come because of the visa interview freeze, which was really unfortunate. Hopefully the course will be organized next year as well.

8 months ago 0 0 0 0

Generated image of cross section of a yellow channel in a plasma membrane

You still got time!
🚨Call for papers - Ion channels and channelopathies🚨
Deadline: 27 October 2025 #BMCBiology

Guest Editors:
Zhuo Huang, Peking University
Soile Nymark @snymark.bsky.social, Tampere University

www.biomedcentral.com/collections/...
#ImmunoSky #NeuroSky #calcium 🧪

9 months ago 1 1 0 0

Projection Targeting with Phototagging to Study the Structure and Function of Retinal Ganglion Cells Visual information from the retina is sent to diverse targets throughout the brain by different retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Much of our knowledge about the different RGC types and how they are routed to these brain targets is based on mice, largely due to the extensive library of genetically modified mouse lines. To alleviate the need for using genetically modified animal models for studying retinal projections, we developed a high-throughput approach called projection targeting with phototagging that combines retrograde viral labeling, optogenetic identification, functional characterization using multi-electrode arrays, and morphological analysis. This method enables the simultaneous investigation of projections, physiology, and structure-function relationships across dozens to hundreds of cells in a single experiment. We validated this method in rats by targeting RGCs projecting to the superior colliculus, revealing multiple functionally defined cell types that align with prior studies in mice. By integrating established techniques into a scalable workflow, this framework enables comparative investigations of visual circuits across species, expanding beyond genetically tractable models. Motivation Visual information from the retina is distributed to diverse targets throughout the brain. Much of our knowledge about how visual information is processed and routed to these brain targets is based on mice because of the large library of genetically modified mouse lines. For most other species, such libraries are not available. Therefore, we were motivated to develop an approach for characterizing diverse retinal projections into the brain that can be applied to other species. We aimed to achieve projection targeting with retrograde viral vectors, followed by identification of circuit-specific retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) with optogenetics, functional characterization with multi-electrode array (MEA) recordings, and morphological description with in situ and confocal microscopy. The resulting high-throughput approach permits functional and morphological investigation of dozens to hundreds of cells in individual experiments. By replacing the need for genetically modified animals with a suite of standard techniques, this approach should improve cross-species comparisons of the initial stages of visual processing. Summary Understanding the structure-function relationships across neurons is challenging, particularly when circuits are composed of dozens of distinct cell types. We refined an approach, called projection targeting with phototagging, that allows simultaneous elucidation of the projections, morphology, and visual response properties of diverse RGC types in the mammalian retina. The approach combines retrograde virally mediated phototagging of RGCs, microscopy, and large-scale MEA measurements. Importantly, the approach does not rely on transgenic animals and thus is generalizable across species. We validated this approach in rats by targeting retinal projections to the superior colliculus (SC). We showed that multiple RGC types project to the SC and that these results in rats align well with prior findings from transgenic mouse studies. ![Figure][1]</img> Highlights ### Competing Interest Statement K.R. Is a coauthor on a patent for AAV2retro (Application No. 62/350,361 filed June 15, 2016, and U.S. Application No. 62/404,585 filed October 5, 2016). * AAV : adeno-associated virus cMRF : central mesencephalic reticular formation CRF : contrast response functions DpG : deep gray layer of the superior colliculus DpWh : deep white layer of the superior colliculus EI : electrical image GCL : ganglion cell layer IC : inferior colliculus INL : inner nuclear layer InG : intermediate gray layer of the superior colliculus IPL : Inner Plexiform Layer InWh : intermediate white layer of the superior colliculus ISI : inter-spike interval distribution MEA : multi-electrode array MGN : medial geniculate nucleus of the thalamus OT : nucleus of the optic tract Op : optic nerve layer of the superior colliculus OSI : orientation-selective index PAG : periaqueductal gray PC : posterior commissure POD : post-operative day PT : pretectum ReaChR : red-shifted channelrhodopsin RF : receptive field RGC : retinal ganglion cell SRF : spatial receptive field SuG : superficial gray layer of the superior colliculus TRF : temporal receptive field Zo : zonal layer of the superior colliculus Duke Institute for Brain Sciences (DIBS) Incubator Award NIH R01 EY034004 K99 EY032119 NIH P30 EY005722 Core Grant for Vision Research at Duke University NIH P30 EY000331 for Vision Research and an Unrestricted Grant from Research to Prevent Blindness at UCLA [1]: pending:yes

Awesome work by @gregdfield.bsky.social et al. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Projection Targeting with Phototagging to Study the Structure and Function of Retinal Ganglion Cells | bioRxiv

9 months ago 5 1 0 0

Tributes paid to pioneering eye researcher Professor Pete Coffey Tributes have been paid to one of the world’s top eye researchers, Professor Pete Coffey, who has sadly passed away after a long illness.

It’s incredibly hard to express what Professor Pete Coffey meant to so many of us. The Macular Society has written a beautiful tribute to Pete and I'm honoured to have contributed a few words.

Thank you, my friend, for so many happy days.

www.macularsociety.org/about/media/...

9 months ago 11 6 3 1

Posts by Soile Nymark