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The Rinaldin group uses quantitative biology approaches to understand how cellular structures form and adapt during the development of multicellular organisms.
Across all scales, multicellular systems are highly organized. Molecules, biochemical activities, and cells interact to generate emergent structures that collectively enable life to function. These organizational processes are clearly observed in embryonic development, where from a single egg, molecules self-organize into cells that become tissues, and ultimately organs. How does the organization of the cellular machinery emerge and adapt to achieve robust yet flexible development? To address this question, our group uses an interdisciplinary approach that integrates physical and biochemical techniques. We use eggs and embryos of X. laevis frogs and zebrafish as model systems. We build on comparative biology with further organisms to understand how developmental programs evolve and how the underlying cellular machinery adapts to maintain cellular homeostasis across species.
Many embryos start their development consisting of a shared cytoplasm where multiple nuclei coexist, a multinucleated state. This state lacks cellular membranes, requiring therefore different mechanisms to separate the cell content. We have for example recently discovered that properties of growth of microtubule asters define the boundaries, stability, and organization strategies of compartments in the cytoplasm.
Across biology, there is an evolutionary drive towards multicellularity, yet at the same time multicellularity is often “lost” in diseases (cancer, liver diseases, etc…) and tissue formation, and multicellular tissues become multinucleated. We are interested in uncovering the mechanistic principles that govern these transitions and ultimately learn how to control them to prevent disease. We focus our investigation on the microtubule cytoskeleton and cell membrane, structures critical for cytoplasmic and cellular organization.
In zebrafish embryonic development, most tissues are organized as multicellular structures, but certain regions form multinucleated states that support key processes such as axis specification and heart formation. How do the distinct organizational properties of multinucleated versus multicellular states affect signaling and morphogenesis? We aim to understand how embryos exploit both architectures to achieve robust and adaptable patterning.
Rinaldin M, Kickuth A, Lamson A, Dalton B, Xu Y, Mejstřík P, Di Talia S, Brugués J
Download|2026
Xu Y, Chao A, Rinaldin M, Kickuth A, Brugués J, Di Talia S
Download|2025
Rinaldin M, Fonda P, Giomi L, Kraft DJ
Download|2020
Melissa Rinaldin is opgeleid als natuurkundige en is geïnteresseerd in hoe biologische organisatie ontstaat en hoe dit de functie van cellen en de ontwikkeling beïnvloedt. Tijdens haar promotieonderzoek aan de Universiteit Leiden onderzocht ze hoe de vorm en samenstelling van celmembranen invloed hebben op het ontstaan van lipidedomeinen. In haar postdoc bestudeerde ze de organisatie van het cytoplasma tijdens de vroege ontwikkeling, met een focus op het microtubuli-cytoskelet en de celcyclus-oscillator. In april 2026 startte ze haar onderzoeksgroep bij het Hubrecht Institute.
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