Cell atlases are becoming coordinate systems for biology. Excited to share our latest preprint from the Human Cell Atlas Pancreas Bionetwork. 🎉🧬 We set out to build a healthy reference framework that allows us to interpret pancreatic disease, compare experimental models, and benchmark regenerative approaches within a common coordinate system. This work brings together more than 2 million pancreatic transcriptomes analyzed within a single framework, including: 🔹 815,126 healthy single cell and single nucleus transcriptomes 🔹 109 healthy donors 🔹 12 independent studies 🔹 94 harmonized cell types and transcriptional states And extending this healthy reference to: 🔹 1,018,479 transcriptomes from 261 donors spanning diabetes, pancreatic cancer, and stem cell derived islets 🔹 193,435 mouse endocrine cells for quantitative benchmarking of disease models Some highlights: 🧩 A unified healthy reference that captures cellular diversity across donors, technologies, and biological variation. 🔬 Identification and multimodal support for a putative rare polyhormonal endocrine state, providing a candidate population for future investigation. 📍 Diabetes associated endocrine cells are best understood as remodeling within healthy cellular state space rather than as entirely new cell identities. 🎯 Distinct injury associated and malignancy associated epithelial ecosystem regions emerge when pancreatic cancer is viewed relative to the healthy reference. 🧪 Quantitative benchmarking of mouse diabetes models and stem cell derived islets against adult human pancreatic reference states. More broadly, I believe this illustrates where the field is heading. Reference atlases are evolving from static cell catalogs into analytical frameworks. They provide a common coordinate system for interpreting disease biology, comparing experimental models, and ultimately accelerating translation into medicine. Congratulations to Shrey Parikh, Daniel Strobl, Malte Luecken, Diego Balboa, the Human Cell Atlas Pancreas Bionetwork, and all collaborators on this outstanding team effort. It has been a privilege to be part of this journey. Preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.64898… #HumanCellAtlas #SingleCell #Diabetes

Dr. Pau Puigdevall Costa's @paupuigdevall (from Helena Kilpinen's @HKilpinen group) talk on midbrain dopaminergic neuron development & modeling is now online at: piped.video/playlist?list=PL…. More info on the DDD seminar series at carlocolantuoni.org/seminar.

Happy 30th birthday, Pokémon! Since 1996, the Japanese media sensation has inspired generations of researchers in fields as diverse as evolution, biodiversity and research integrity. go.nature.com/4tZOzKY

How does the Epstein-Barr virus drive multiple sclerosis? summary of 3 new papers @CellCellPress cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092…

NewPreprint alert 📢 Thrilled to share our new work: A molecular cell atlas of endocrine signalling in human neural organoids 📄 Paper: [biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…] 💻 Github: [github.com/GiuseppeTestaLab/…] Eager to know more? 👉🧵 1/

What a beautiful home for our multiplexed organoids! Kudos to all the members of the @gtesta72 lab who contributed to the project. And a big shoutout to Philipp Dexheimer for this absolute piece of art!🎨

📢 Paper alert! Our paper on cortical brain organoids multiplexing is out @naturemethods. nature.com/articles/s41592-0… Together with the Research Briefing nature.com/articles/s41592-0… /1

Sweet conclusion to 2024! It was a challenging but worthwhile journey in the @gtesta72 lab. Special thanks (and a big hug) to @NicoloCaporale, @RigoliMt @CarloEmanueleV1 and @v_ale_nti for laying this new tile together in the brain organoids mosaic :) nature.com/articles/s41592-0…

For a quick summary, read the Research Briefing on this work, here: nature.com/articles/s41592-0…

The team of @gtesta72 have developed methods for multiplexing cortical organoid development to trace neurodevelopmental trajectories at high resolution and at scales. They report SCanSNP, an algorithm to deconvolve cell identities. nature.com/articles/s41592-0…

Don't miss the latest study from the @Knoblich_lab ✨ Congratulations @BosoneCamilla, @castaldi_davide, and the team! 🔗 go.nature.com/47xrrZj

The @Knoblich_lab has developed polarized cortical assembloids with the help of a localized FGF8 source. This technology allows mimicking patterning events during brain development. @krenn_veronica @BosoneCamilla @castaldi_davide @gtesta72 nature.com/articles/s41592-0…

Excited to share this work now published @naturemethods and to have contributed to develop this interesting model of cortical patterning. A fantastic collaborative work with another @Knoblich_Lab alumnus @BosoneCamilla , @castaldi_davide @CarloEmanueleV1 @humantechnopole

Celebrating the talent and passion of PhD graduates @RigoliMt and @castaldi_davide @semm_it @humantechnopole @LaStatale following their remarkable scientific journeys that enriched our lab through the years and kudos to their great cosupervisors @NicoloCaporale @AVitriolScience 1

The first research article from @BaggioliniA lab is finally out! I’m very proud to be part of this great work with great scientists Ryan Walsh @gabriele_ciceri @giacomelli_eli @Rittenhouse_CA @studerl and all collaborators! #organoids #stemcells #neuroscience #braindevelopment

At last! Happy to share our paper on CellOracle – a computational method for dissecting cell identity via network inference and in silico gene perturbation, led by the amazing @kenjikamimoto68: nature.com/articles/s41586-0…

What a better conclusion of my professional path in the #testalab? Our latest Christmas work about #brain #organoids is online. Thanks to CristinaCheroni and all coauthors. Special thanks to @gtesta72 for unparalleled mentorship. Can't wait to start my new adventure!

Indeed so much looking forward to welcoming you to @humantechnopole #Brainomics and engaging with your exciting science @GrayCampLab