Category Archives: General

Pavel visits the lab of Prof. Tatjana Sauka-Spengler in Oxford

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In mid-March 2016, Pavel visited the lab of our collaborator Prof. Tatjana Sauka-Spengler in Oxford, UK. Tatjana’s lab established a genetically encoded system for biotinylation of specific targets in fish cells, allowing, among other applications, tissue-specific isolation of nuclei.

Supervised by a cheerfully enthusiastic PhD student Vanessa Chong, Pavel performed several rounds of nuclei isolation and is looking forward to introduce this method to Vastenhouw lab. 

Apart from having great time in Tatjana’s lab, Pavel also explored the charming campus of the Oxford University.

Thanks the entire Sauka-Spengler lab for a great time!

Setting up the experiment

Pavel’s Birthday

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The Vastenhouw Lab celebrated Pavel's birthday with delicious bakery goods from the Czech Republic.  Gastrulating zebrafish embryos made from Play-Doh were an absolute must for the celebration.

Segmented Cells

FISHing fish, explained on thenode

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Our recent publication is covered in a piece on FISHing fish. Check out the description and a bit of a behind-the-scenes insight into of the paper!

Link to post on thenode

Paper reference:

Stapel, L Carine; Lombardot, Benoit; Broaddus, Coleman; Kainmueller, Dagmar; Jug, Florian; Myers, Eugene W.; Vastenhouw, Nadine L.
Automated detection and quantification of single RNAs at cellular resolution in zebrafish embryos
Development, 143, no. 3, pp. 540-546, (2016)

New Years Dinner

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To celebrate the beginning of the New Year, the Vastenhouw lab had a delicious meal at Fischhaus Dresden. This idyllic restaurant is situated at the edge of the forest and with freshly fallen snow, the atmosphere was magical.

Methods Article in ‘Development’

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We are happy to post about our lab’s recent publication in Development. The article describes how to label and analyze single mRNA molecules, within single cells, at different stages of the zebrafish embryo’s development. With this technique, we hope to open new avenues into gene expression patterns and cellular differentiation programs.

The project was chiefly driven Carine Stapel, currently a PhD student in the Vastenhouw Lab. Carine developed the experimental protocol. The associated, freely available image analysis and quantification pipeline was developed in collaboration with Gene Myer’s research group as well as the Scientific Computing Facility. In fact, all work was done in-house at the MPI-CBG, demonstrating the institute’s wide array of qualifications as well as its collaborative spirit.

The article and protocol are available from Development, and the article also contains the analysis pipeline in its Supplementary Information. Article Page at Development

Automated detection and quantification of single RNAs at cellular resolution in zebrafish embryos

L. Carine Stapel, Benoit Lombardot, Coleman Broaddus, Dagmar Kainmueller, Florian Jug, Eugene W. Myers, Nadine L. Vastenhouw; Development 2015  : doi: 10.1242/dev.128918
Vastenhouw Lab Group Photo

Lab Photo Shoot – Winter 2015

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With new faces in the lab, it was time to update our lab photo. After a fun session having our pictures taken in a boutique cafe by the Elbe, we finally had our winning picture. Thank you Vineeth Surendranath for snapping our pictures!

DIPP Predoc Course – Vastenhouw Lab

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In the DIPP program, PhD students in their first year of study are required to attend four 1 week lab rotations. This week, four students joined the Vastenhouw lab and under the supervision of Shai, they carried out experiments examining the role of chromatin during zygotic genome activation. It was a fantastic week with a lot interesting results, stimulating discussions and learning. Good luck for your future PhDs!