CRM Seminar - Dr Mauricio Rocha-Martins

Dr Mauricio Rocha-Martins, Max Planck Research Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine

Talk title: From chaos to order: how developing tissues regrow and self-reorganize to repair damage

Abstract: In nature, embryos frequently encounter genetic and environmental stressors that cause developmental defects, requiring high levels of molecular and cellular defenses to ensure the development of healthy organisms. While significant efforts have been made to identify the molecular basis of developmental robustness, the mechanisms by which developing tissues restore cellular order after severe disturbances remain largely unknown. To gain mechanistic insights, we focus on a common challenge for developing tissues: uncontrolled cell death. A wide range of stressors, such as hypoxia and viral infections, cause excessive apoptosis, resulting in severe growth defects and loss of tissue integrity, as seen in microcephaly (reduced brain size) and retinal dysplasia. In this talk, I will discuss how we use the embryonic zebrafish retina to shed light on how cells adapt to adverse conditions and work together to provide self-correction capabilities to developing tissues. Using quantitative, multi-day live imaging, we ask whether a developing tissue can recover its size and architecture after severe perturbations. I will present our efforts to dissect how different progenitor states respond to extensive cell loss, how emerging neurons find their correct position in a disorganized tissue environment, and how rosette-like malformations, a common type of tissue disorganization found in human disorders, arise and resolve over time. Together, this work explores how the adaptive plasticity of cells and tissues allows embryos to build healthy organs under adverse conditions. 

Bio: Mauricio studied Biological Sciences at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and obtained his PhD at the Institute of Biophysics of the same university. For his postdoctoral training, he joined Dr. Caren Norden's lab at the Max Planck-CBG (Germany)/Institute Gulbenkian (Portugal). His research focuses on how embryos construct complex organs with remarkable precision. Mauricio uses the zebrafish retina and human organoids as model systems to study how cells work together to confer robustness to organ formation. In his postdoctoral work, Mauricio discovered a non-canonical type of neuronal migration that prevents spatial competition between emerging neurons and dividing progenitor cells, thus helping safeguard tissue integrity. Mauricio is currently extending this research vision at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine where he has been appointed as a Max Planck research Group Leader in 2024. He and his team are exploring how embryos can naturally correct common developmental defects, such as uncontrolled cell loss and tissue disorganization, to ensure the formation of healthy organisms even under adverse conditions.