We study how neuronal identity, synaptic connectivity and circuit function emerge during development.
No two brains are wired exactly alike, yet they perform the same functions.
Variation appears at every scale: in gene expression, in cell number, in neuronal morphology, in the number and localization of synapses, yet function survives it. Explaining how is a question about development, because ontogeny is what accounts for the brain an animal ends up with: how much it can vary and still work, and what gives way when it does not, as in disease.
Each step during development constrains and enables the next, so the order in which events occur is part of the mechanism rather than a description of it.
We work on this in the Drosophila visual system, from cell fate specification and the emergence of synaptic connectivity to behavior: a brain small enough to study cell by cell, stereotyped enough that the same neurons can be identified in every animal, and accessible to technologies that reach subcellular resolution in vivo while simultaneously allowing analyses up to behavioral phenotypes.
What are the gene regulatory networks that specify neuronal identity, from neuroprogenitor divisions to differentiated neurons?
In collaboration with the Özel Lab, Stowers Institute, Kansas City
Omics · CRISPR · Machine LearningHow is synaptic specificity established with subcellular resolution?
Live Imaging · Super Resolution Imaging · Connectomics
How are synaptic proteins produced and recruited to synapses in step with the dynamics of circuit assembly?
Post-transcriptional Regulation · SunTag · Live Imaging · Super Resolution ImagingHow does developmental wiring shape neural activity and behavior?
In collaboration with the Wystrach Lab at CBI
Virtual Reality · Modeling · Neural Activity · BehaviorMate-copying occurs when females prefer males that have already attracted other females, a phenomenon observed in many species, including Drosophila and humans.
In this project, led by our collaborator Guillaume Isabel, we study how visual cues shape social learning.
In collaboration with the Isabel Lab at CBI
Behavior · Connectomics · Functional Imaging
Principal Investigator
Developmental biologist. Music lover. Always curious.Short CV[email protected]
Postdoctoral Fellow · FRM
Nadia studies how the tight spatio-temporal control of gene expression exerted by RNA-based mechanisms impacts neuronal function and connectivity during development.[email protected]
Researcher · Lab Manager
Yannick is our molecular biology expert and resident CRISPR guru. He investigates the gene regulatory mechanisms underlying neuronal fate specification and differentiation, in collaboration with the Özel Lab at the Stowers Institute, Kansas City.[email protected]
Researcher
Laura brings years of experience in Drosophila neurodevelopment to the lab. She is interested in the cellular dynamics of circuit assembly.[email protected]
Researcher
Marianne studies the relationship between cellular dynamics and post-transcriptional regulation during circuit assembly.[email protected]
PhD Student · BSB fellowship
Taha studies the development of subcellular synaptic specificity.[email protected]
Feline Grant-Writing Assistant · Emeritus
Lula is interested in the escape response to visual looming stimuli in Musca domestica and other household insects. She is passionate about naps, tinned fish and potato chips, and provides support during grant and manuscript writing. Lula works from home.Carrier Y*, Quintana Rio L*, Formicola N, de Sousa-Xavier V, Tabet M, Chen YD, Haji Ali A, Wislez M, Orts L, Borst A, Pinto-Teixeira F.
Developmental Cell 60(5):762–779
Pinto-Teixeira F, Koo C, Rossi AM, Neriec N, Bertet C, Li X, Del-Valle-Rodriguez A, Desplan C.
Cell 173(2):485–498
Formicola N, Pinto-Teixeira F.
Current Biology 36(16)
El-Danaf RN*, Kapuralin K*, Rajesh R, Simon F, Drou N, Pinto-Teixeira F, Özel MN, Desplan C.
Nature Communications 16:698
Perry M, Konstantinides N, Pinto-Teixeira F, Desplan C.
Annual Review of Genetics 51:501–527
Pinto-Teixeira F*, Konstantinides N*, Desplan C.
FEBS Letters 590:2435–2453
Pinto-Teixeira F*, Viader-Llargués O*, Torres-Mejía E, Pola-Morell L, López-Schier H.
Biology Open 4:903–909
Pinto-Teixeira F, Desplan C.
Science Signaling 7(348)
Pinto-Teixeira F, Muzzopappa M, Swoger J, Mineo A, Sharpe J, López-Schier H.
Frontiers in Neuroanatomy 7:33
Pinto-Teixeira F, Desplan C.
Developmental Cell 24(4):338–340
Wibowo I*, Pinto-Teixeira F*, Satou C, Higashijima S, López-Schier H.
Development 138:1143–1152
* equal contribution.
We are recruiting at postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate level, funded by an Impulscience grant from the Fondation Bettencourt Schueller.
Two positions are available.
We are looking for independent, creative, collaborative researchers interested in neural circuit development. Several projects are underway, with exciting preliminary data for you to build on. We also strongly welcome your own project ideas, within the lab’s broad lines of research.
Email Filipe with a CV, a statement of your scientific interests, and the contact details of three referees.
Full position detailsWe are recruiting Master's students for internship projects starting in 2027.
Email Filipe with a CV, a statement in English describing your scientific interests and how they align with our research, and the contact details of two referees.
Generic applications will not be answered.
Email Filipe describing your research interests and what you would like to achieve during your time in the lab.
Generic applications will not be answered.
The CBI is a multidisciplinary institute of 40 research teams, including a large community of several fly labs. Our lab sits at the interface of the Stem Cells and Developmental Biology and the Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology programs.
We are housed in a new building with access to CBI core facilities: a light imaging facility with 16 acquisition workstations — two-photon in vivo microscopy, spinning disk and scanning confocal, optical tweezers, super-resolution — behavior rigs, and a dedicated fly rearing facility.
Toulouse is the third-largest city in France and has the country's second-largest student population, across three universities. It sits an hour and a half from the Pyrenees in one direction and the Mediterranean coast in the other.
Small utilities we use at the bench.
Works out one bulk master mix for GoTaq G2 or Phusion HF, splits it across primer pairs with a safety margin, and builds the cycling program. Exports the bench sheet as PDF or Excel.
Filipe Pinto-Teixeira [email protected]
Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI)
Supported by the CNRS and the University of Toulouse, with project funding from the Fondation Bettencourt Schueller, ATIP-Avenir, the FRM, the ANR and the FCT.
