Author | Lightnews

Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 21

👁‍🗨 We are seeking for a motivated and enthusiastic colleague to join our team. Do you want to know more? visit the link below ⬇️⬇️⬇️
www.radboudumc.nl/en/vacancies...

Vacancy - PhD position on Advancing Personalized iPSC-Based Models for Inherited Retinal Diseases

The eye is the window to the world around us. Losing vision either early or late in life is a significant burden for patients. Nowadays, molecular ...

www.radboudumc.nl

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 21

👁️‍This interdisciplinary project will combine cutting-edge stem cell technology, retinal organoid development, and genetic/functional assays to better understand patient-specific mechanisms of vision loss and pave the way for precision medicine in ophthalmology.

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 21

🚨 PhD position available 🚨

👀 We are excited to announce a fully funded PhD position in our lab, focused on developing personalized induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based models to study inherited retinal diseases as part of the Lifelong VISION consortium!

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 21

📰 Both papers are now out as back-to-back bioRxiv publications, reinforcing the idea that light is more than a trigger.
Thank you very much to everyone involved in this work!
#light #retinalorganoids #maturation #stemcells #photostimulation #development #photoreceptors #iPSC @radboudumc.bsky.social

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 21

⭐ We were excited to come across the work in @tomasbarta.bsky.social’s group. In the work conducted by Canan Çeliker and collaborators (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...), the use of flickering light for 2 weeks, revealed similar conclusions with respect the role of light in improving maturation.

Photostimulation Improves Maturation of Human Photoreceptors

The human retina contains photoreceptor cells that detect light and enable vision. The development of these cells involves a tightly regulated cascade of structural and molecular events, and their dys...

www.biorxiv.org

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 21

Together, these results support the idea that light enhances photoreceptor maturation and could be key to improving the functionality of retinal organoids.

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 21

🔬 Interestingly, RNA and protein levels did not always correlate directly, underlining the complexity of translational regulation.
🔬 Importantly, light exposure did not induce cell death, oxidative stress, or autophagy, suggesting it is safe and potentially beneficial.

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 21

🔬 We observed earlier and higher expression of photoreceptor marker genes in the light-exposed organoids.
🔬 Proteomics analysis at the end of differentiation revealed enrichment of rod photoreceptor markers at the protein level
🔬 We observed increased number of rods by immunostaining.

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 21

In our new study (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...), led by Edwin van Oosten, we exposed retinal organoids to daily white light cycles throughout differentiation. Our results in a nutshell:

Long-term daily light exposure boosts photoreceptor maturation in retinal organoids

Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal organoids (ROs) have become promising personalized models to study inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) and develop new innovative therapies. Although ROs mi...

www.biorxiv.org

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 21

💡 Light matters 💡

Despite major advances in generating retinal cells in vitro, these cells are typically cultured in the dark. But why would cells develop light-sensitive features if there is no light around?

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Reposted by Alex Garanto

Mike Cheetham @cheethamlab.bsky.social · Jul 5

Congratulations Owen and many thanks to Alex and Amanda.

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Reposted by Alex Garanto

hardcastlelab.bsky.social @hardcastlelab.bsky.social · Jul 5

Congratulations Owen on your PhD defence 🥳🎉🥂huge thank you to examiners @jandritu.bsky.social and @amandajcarr.bsky.social

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 5

Nice pictures! Thanks a lot @cheethamlab.bsky.social for the nice time in London! See you in Prague!

Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 5

And thanks to @amandajcarr.bsky.social for the guidance and help navigating my first viva! It was very nice to finally meeting you in person!

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jul 5

Congrats Owen! And of course also to you and @cheethamlab.bsky.social! He did great & we had very interesting discussions! Thanks for the invitation & thinking about me as the external expert. I really enjoyed it! It was lovely to catch up with you! Thanks a lot for the hospitality!

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Mar 6

🚨𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝟭𝟮 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝗙𝗙𝗲𝗰𝗧🚨
🔬 Join an international network driving innovative treatments and delivery methods for a variety of disorders with leading experts in RNA therapeutics 🌍
🔗 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘄: euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/296420
more info: www.effect-dn.eu

12 PhDs on Antisense oligonucleotide research to foster the full therapeutic potential of antisense technology across tissues

EFFecT (European Training Program to Foster the Full Therapeutic Potential of Antisense Technology across Tissues) is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (2025-2028), offering 12 PhD positions.

euraxess.ec.europa.eu

Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Feb 28

Also @lrdesviat.bsky.social who I could not find when I posted!

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Feb 28

We are looking forward to start working together! Remember we are recruiting until March 15!!!📢

euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/296420

12 PhDs on Antisense oligonucleotide research to foster the full therapeutic potential of antisense technology across tissues

EFFecT (European Training Program to Foster the Full Therapeutic Potential of Antisense Technology across Tissues) is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (2025-2028), offering 12 PhD positions.

euraxess.ec.europa.eu

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Feb 28

5 Partners & 1 Associated partner of #EFFecT are present at SMOT (Synergistic Meeting on Oligonucleotide Therapeutics) celebrating #[email protected] @dutchantisense.bsky.social @uvsq.bsky.social #ucl @cbm-csic-uam.bsky.social @varechavala.bsky.social

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Feb 19

The mutation at protein level, if no splicing defect would be present, would be a synonymous change. Therefore the normal protein will be produced.

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Feb 17

📅 Deadline: March 15th 📍 Apply here: euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/296420 🌍 About us: effec-dn.eu
Don't miss out—be part of groundbreaking RNA research! 🚀 #PhD #ASO #AntisenseOligonucleotides #ResearchOpportunity #EFFecT

12 PhDs on Antisense oligonucleotide research to foster the full therapeutic potential of antisense technology across tissues

EFFecT (European Training Program to Foster the Full Therapeutic Potential of Antisense Technology across Tissues) is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (2025-2028), offering 12 PhD positions.

euraxess.ec.europa.eu

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Feb 17

🚨 Only 3 Weeks Left to Apply! 🚨
Passionate about antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapeutics? Looking for a PhD opportunity in this cutting-edge field? The EFFecT consortium is recruiting!

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jan 25

Check out our latest work! Preclinical in vitro and safety and in vivo biodistribution of #antisense #oligonucleotides targeting a recurrent genetic variant in ABCA4 present in patients with #Stargardt disease. A big first step towards therapeutic intervention.
www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Preclinical assessment of splicing modulation therapy for ABCA4 variant c.768G>T in Stargardt disease - Communications Medicine

Karjosukarso et al. investigate antisense oligonucleotides targeting aberrant splicing caused by a recurrent ABCA4 variant in Stargardt disease. A candidate therapeutic molecule that shows a favorable...

www.nature.com

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Alex Garanto @jandritu.bsky.social · Jan 24

Today part of the @dutch-antisense.bsky.social organizing committee visited the venues for the #DATS2025 in Groningen! We cannot wait to welcoming you in June! Registrations will open soon, stay tuned! www.dutchantisense.org
@ronaldbuijsen.bsky.social

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