Welcome to the JFR @ OM team webpage

I am a CNRS researcher at the Centre Physique Théorique (Université Aix-Marseille, Luminy campus) and CENTURI (Turing Center for Living Systems) Group Leader.

Some additional info on the CENTURI webpage.

I'm also on blue sky.

Team Members

Alumni

Opportunities

In addition to joining a dynamic team composed of highly motivated people within the interdisciplinary environment of CENTURI, do not forget that Luminy is arguably one of the most beautiful places (see some images here).

Research Highlight: Cell Motility and Tissue Mechanics

We aim at understanding how flows emerge in living matter. Recent projects were/are supported by:

• ANR JCJC COVFEFE (COVariant Fluctuating theory of Epithelial Flows): see French/English summaries.
• ANR PRC IMPERIS (Inducing Mechanical Perturbations on the Immune Synapse) with P. Pierobon, E. Donnadieu, J. Fattacioli
• ANR PRCi CODAC (CO-Dynamics of cell Adhesion and Contraction) with P.-F. Lenne, Ed. Munroe, P. Recouvreux.
• ANR PRC DENDROMORPH (Dendrite Morphology) with T. Lecuit and Claire Bertet.

Active viscous flows over complex geometries

• Bell 2023: We extend the active nematics framework for curved surfaces with an up-down asymmetry; we find thresholdless active flows, discontinuous transitions and hysteresis between flowing steady states. See also the CNRS press release (in French).
• Prasad 2023: We use a curved active nematics framework to understand how oil-eating bacteria maximize their food intake by pulling tubes out of oil droplets. Link to our publication + YouTube video by Science Magazine.
• Palavalli 2019: For a summary, see M.-E. Perrin PhD thesis.

Active viscoelastic flows in flatland: vertex models and epithelial tissues

Vertex models were first introduced to describe passive foams composed of pressurized bubbles. In epithelial tissues, however, the bulk of cells can also exert anisotropic stresses on top of pressure. We showed anisotropic stresses can be included within vertex models (Lin EPJE 2021). This framework was a key element in formulating the active stresses that underlie chaotic flows observed in vitro epithelial tissues, flows that are often captured by active nematic theories but where our cell-based description allows us to highlight important features specific to a cellular material (Lin PRL 2023, see also [arXiv version]). Building on this active stress model, we next explored how epithelial tissues respond to mechanical failure, using vertex models to test theories of tissue fracture and to show how topological defects can trigger extreme events in mechanical tension (Sonam Nat. Phys. 2022; see also the CNRS press release (in French)). Finally, during Drosophila embryogenesis, we demonstrated that epithelial cellular arrangements can differ between the apical and basal side of the embryo, revealing how confinement impacts tissue organization (Lou PRL 2023, see also the MBI science feature).

In 2020, I also contributed to the MODCOV-19 initiative on epidemic modeling, highlighted in a CNRS global press release.

Before 2019, my earlier research also dealt with cell motility, and molecular processes. In tissue mechanics, we studied how fish slices display a distinctive V-pattern, showing that active stresses, differential tissue friction, and plasticity shape the zebrafish myotome (MBI science feature). In cell motility, we proposed a universal law of migration where faster cells take longer to change direction, explained by a chemical inertia mechanism linked to actin retrograde flow (Le Monde feature); we developed a run-and-tumble model for magnetotactic bacteria predicting a phase transition to collective flow; we also showed that cortical stress fluctuations influence nuclear positioning and polarity (MBI science feature). On the molecular side, we proposed a model of force generation by motor assemblies, revealing how cells sense rigidity through local pinching (Nature Physics News and Views, Curie Institute review); developed algorithms to optimize super-resolution imaging; and studied reactivity theory to identify efficient search strategies for catalytic encounters.

Publication List

See Google Scholar profile.

• Stress anisotropy in 3D active curved structures
  Y. Lou, S. Theis, J.-F. Rupprecht, T. E Saunders, T. Hiraiwa
  Preprint - bioRxiv
• Inferring the location and orientation of cell divisions on time-lapse image sequences
  M. Karnat, R. Karpinski*, M. Saadaoui, S. Tlili, J.-F. Rupprecht*
  Preprint - bioRxiv
• Spontaneous flows in active smectics with dislocations
  S.-Z. Lin, F. Julicher, J. Prost, J.-F. Rupprecht
  EPJ-ST (2025) in honour of Etienne Guyon [arXiv version]
• A multicellular actin star network underpins epithelial organization and connectivity
  A. Barai, M. Soleilhac, X. Wang, S.-Z. Lin, M. Karnat,... J.-F. Rupprecht, D. Delacour
  Nature Communications (2025) [bioRxiv version]
• Titin-dependent biomechanical feedback tailors sarcomeres to specialised muscle functions in insects
  V. Loreau,... J.-F. Rupprecht, D. Görlich, B. H. Habermann, F. Schnorrer
  Science Advances (2025) [bioRxiv version]
• E-cadherin-dependent phosphorylation of EGFR governs a homeostatic feedback loop
  C. Fu(1), F. Dilasser(1), S.-Z. Lin(1), M. Karnat(1), et al.
  PNAS (2024) [bioRxiv version]
• Membrane tilt drives phase separation of adhesion receptors
  S.-Z. Lin, R. Changede, A. J. Farrugia, et al.
  Physical Review Letters (2024) [arXiv version]
• Curvature-induced clustering of cell adhesion proteins
  S.-Z. Lin, J. Prost, J.-F. Rupprecht
  Physical Review E (2024), Editor Suggestion [arXiv version]
• Alcanivorax borkumensis Biofilms Enhance Oil Degradation By Interfacial Tubulation
  M. Prasad, N. Obana, S.-Z. Lin, et al.
  Science (2023) [bioRxiv version]
• Soft Matter Roadmap
  Jean-Louis Barrat et al
  J. Phys. Mater. (2023) [HAL version]
• Enhanced cell viscosity as a marker of premature senescence
  C. Jebane(1), A.-A. Varlet(1), M. Karnat(1), et al.
  IScience (2023) [bioRxiv version]
• Two-point optical manipulation reveals mechanosensitive remodeling
  K. Nishizawa, S.-Z. Lin, C. Chardes, J.-F. Rupprecht, P.-F. Lenne
  PNAS (2023) [bioRxiv version]
• Curvature-induced cell rearrangements in biological tissues
  Y. Lou, S. Theis, J.-F. Rupprecht, T. Hiraiwa, T. E. Saunders
  Physical Review Letters (2023) [arXiv version]
• Structure and Rheology in Vertex Models under Cell-Shape-Dependent Active Stresses
  S.-Z. Lin, M. Merkel, J.-F. Rupprecht
  Physical Review Letters (2023) [arXiv version]
• Active nematic flows on curved surfaces
  S. Bell(1), S.-Z. Lin(1), J.-F. Rupprecht, J. Prost
  Physical Review Letters (2022) [HAL version]
• Mechanical stress driven by rigidity sensing governs epithelial stability
  S. Sonam(1), L. Balasubramaniam(1), S.-Z. Lin(1), et al.
  Nature Physics (2022) -- Featured in Nature Physics News and Views [HAL version]

Short CV

• 01/2019 onwards - CNRS researcher at the Centre Physique Théorique (Université Aix-Marseille, Luminy campus)
• 2021-2024 - Member of the CoNRS section 02 (Theoretical Physics) and CID 51 (Modelling for Life Sciences).
• 2015-2019 - Research fellow with J. Prost (Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore)
• 2014-2015 - Post-doctoral research with L. Bocquet (LPS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris)
• 2012-2014 - Graduate student with R. Voituriez and O. Bénichou (LPTMC, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Paris)
• 2008-2012 - Ecole Normale Supérieure

Contact

Email: jean-francois.RUPPRECHT@univ-amu.fr

Address: Université Aix-Marseille, Campus de Luminy, 163 Avenue de Luminy, 13009 Marseille