Welcome to the JFR @ OM team webpage
I am a CNRS researcher at the LAI (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
Jean-François Rupprecht
Group Leader
Toni Mendes
Post-doc
Yan Plotze
PhD Student
cosup T. Lecuit
Pablo Pérez Bastías
PhD Student
cosup V. Viasnoff
Qazi Saaheelur Rahaman
PhD Student
cosup M. Saadaoui/F.-X. Dupé
Alumni
Marc-Eric Perrin
former PhD, now Collège de France ATER
cosup T. Lecuit
Marc Karnat
former PhD, now in business (France).
Shao-Zhen Lin
former post-doc, now Prof & Group Leader, Guangzhou (China).
Opportunities
Please contact me by email for more info. Informal inquiries are welcome.
PhD offer available with Nicolas Waisbord as co-supervisor on extreme statistics & ecology: magnetotactic bacteria mostly live in sediments, but what's the evolutionary advantage of magnetotaxis there? Our hypothesis: it helps bacterial dispersion of the first bacteria that seeds a colony. Click here for more info.
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 in the world (see some images here and in the carrousel below).
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.
- ANR CRAC-TENSOR-FLOWS (Tissue Mechanics) with S. Tlili and M. Saadaoui.
Active viscoelastic flows in flatland: 2D vertex models and epithelial tissues
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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).
We showed that active smectics with dislocations can undergo drastic transitions to flows (Lin 2025), see our press release in CNRS Physics and AMU science feature.
Active viscous flows beyond flatland: from 2.5D to 3D and complex geometries
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We extend active-nematic hydrodynamics to curved surfaces with broken up–down symmetry to reveal thresholdless spontaneous flows and discontinuous transitions with hysteresis between steady flowing states (Bell 2023; see also the CNRS press release). Using a curved active-nematic framework, we further show how oil-eating bacteria optimize nutrient uptake by pulling tubes out of oil droplets (Prasad 2023; Science Magazine video).
Other subjects
In 2020-21, I joined the MODCOV-19 initiative on epidemic modeling, contributed to 2 papers, one of which was highlighted in a CNRS global press release.
Before 2019, my earlier research dealt with tissue and cell mechanics, molecular motors, and random search optimization. We studied how fish acquire a distinctive V-shaped somites and bones, 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 (post-2023)
- Fibrillar adhesions are the primary integrin complexes shaped by matrix topography
A. J. Farrugia, S.-Z. Lin, Y. J. Yuen, S. S. Prabhu, Y. Wang,... P. Kanchanawong, J.-F. Rupprecht, J. Prost, A. D. Bershadsky,
bioRxiv (2025) - Noninvasive rheological inference from stable flows in confined tissues
M. Karnat, G. H. Narayana, S. K. Peneti, V. Guglielmotti, Q. S. Rahaman, S. Jain, B. Ladoux, S-Z. Lin, S. Tlili, R.-M. Mège, J.-F. Rupprecht
arXiv (2025) - 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] - Mechanical stress driven by rigidity sensing governs epithelial stability
S. Sonam(1), L. Balasubramaniam(1), S.-Z. Lin(1), ..., R.M. Mège, J.-F. Rupprecht, B. Ladoux
Nature Physics (2023) -- 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 in Paris (I thank the normalsup.org server)
Contact
Email: jean-francois.RUPPRECHT@univ-amu.fr
Address: Université Aix-Marseille, Campus de Luminy, 163 Avenue de Luminy, 13009 Marseille