Iva Tolić
@ivatolic
Biophysics of mitosis / mitotic spindle / chromosome segregation and aneuploidy Head of Laboratory of Cell Biophysics at @institutrb.bsky.social, previously at @mpi-cbg.de, LENS Florence, Niels Bohr Institute, @hsph.harvard.edu, Uni Zagreb. tolic.irb.hr
It was great to give a talk on "One Law Linking Genomes and Spindles Across Life" at the 12th International Conference on Biological Physics #ICBP2026 in Genoa! Exciting science and a spectacular location in the old harbor. Many thanks to Alberto Diaspro & the organizing team!
Beyond thrilled to share that I've been elected as a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU)! Deeply grateful to my group at @institutrb.bsky.social, collaborators, mentors, and family, I didn't get here alone. The photo is from my associate membership, a new one coming soon! 😃
On the way to Vienna! Looking forward to seeing longtime science friends and meeting the next generation of microscopy enthusiasts.🔬
Best paper awards at the Ruđer Bošković Institute 🎉 Thrilled that four of my PhD students and I received an award for our paper “Microtubule poleward flux as a target for modifying chromosome segregation errors.”
Our third Swiss-Croatian Bilateral Project meeting in Split, with @labmeraldi.bsky.social, Nenad Pavin, and special guest @ivanagasic.bsky.social! Great science and plenty of exciting new ideas to explore! #HRZZ @snsf.ch 🇭🇷🇨🇭
We love SRCE (“Srce” means “Heart”), our University Computing Center and an amazing collaborator! It was great to give a talk at "Days of e-Infrastructure" and celebrate SRCE’s 55th anniversary. Happy birthday, SRCE! 🎉 #SrceDEI2026
Večernji list, 25.3.2026. Big congrats to my super talented, dedicated, and courageous young team! 👏 🩷 🔬
What an inspiring few days in Dubrovnik at #SpindleCroatia2026, which Nenad Pavin and I organized for the 4th time. Outstanding science and many warm reunions with colleagues from around the world! Huge thanks to the whole spindle community!!
Spindle squad #SpindleCroatia2026 #Dubrovnik www.phy.pmf.unizg.hr/~mitosis/
Only two days to go until the “Mitotic Spindle: From Living and Synthetic Systems to Theory” meeting in Dubrovnik! This is the 4th time Nenad Pavin and I are organizing it, and it keeps growing with each edition. Can’t wait to see everyone in Dubrovnik! shorturl.at/35Vff
Congrats to the PIVOTING TEAM: Isabella Koprivec, Valentina Štimac, Mario Đura, @krunovuk.bsky.social, and @petramikec.bsky.social (not in the pic because she is in Marseille). Thanks @erc.europa.eu, www.hrzz.hr, and www.srce.unizg.hr for supporting us!
Bottom line: spindle elongation-driven microtubule pivoting is a built-in error correction step for “at risk” polar chromosomes. A cool example of how simple physical principles ensure fidelity in a highly complex cellular process, opening a new handle to tune CIN in tumors.
So here’s the big question: what role does pivoting play in cancer? We found that spindle elongation-driven pivoting operates across multiple cancer cell lines and keeps mitosis fast. Limiting elongation leaves polar chromosomes stranded, enhancing elongation accelerates their rescue.
Spindle dynamics dictates everything: elongation causes inward pivoting, shortening reverses it, and blocking elongation stops the process. We were even able to induce reversible back and forth swings. A clean mechanical control system!
Here is the unexpected way cells drag stranded chromosomes back: by pivoting of astral microtubules during spindle elongation. As centrosomes move apart, chromosome-bound microtubules pivot around them, swinging polar chromosomes onto the spindle surface.
When chromosomes sit in a ‘danger zone’ behind the spindle pole, disaster seems inevitable. They reach the spindle late, revealing a new step in chromosome dynamics that depends on their position, not just their distance.
Chromosomes stuck behind the spindle are ticking time bombs for aneuploidy. We uncovered a mechanical rescue mechanism where microtubule pivoting repositions these high-risk chromosomes! Out last week in @natcomms.nature.com, here's a thread 🧵 shorturl.at/OD89x
The first authors enjoying their collaboration: Claudia (from Boris Maček’s lab) and Ana (from my lab) completed this project as newly minted PhDs. Adrian Perhat also contributed to the final stages of the project. Congrats to all! 🎉
Proteomics of cancer spheroids reveals downregulation of mitotic kinesins (KIF11, KIF4A), spindle checkpoint proteins, and APC/C, uncovering both shared and cell line-specific rewiring of mitosis in 3D and linking proteome state to spindle architecture.
Magnetic nanoparticles + cells + magnet = floating flattened spheroids. In breast, bone, and ovarian cancer lines, this 3D growth changes mitotic timing and rewires spindle architecture and positioning.
New work from my lab, together with Boris Maček's lab! Using magnetic levitation, we made multicellular spheroids to ask a simple question: how different is mitosis in 3D structures compared with standard 2D monolayers? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Loved giving a talk at the Biophysical Society Meeting @biophysicalsoc.bsky.social in the Motility & Cytoskeleton Subgroup Symposium. Thanks to Katya Grishchuk for the invite! So good to be in San Francisco again and catch up with everyone!
Mitosis lovers, get ready for Dubrovnik! 🔬🎉 I’m super excited to be organizing the 4th Mitotic Spindle Conference with Nenad Pavin, and we can’t wait to see you there! Want your abstract to be selected for a talk? Submit by Feb 8! www.phy.pmf.unizg.hr/~mitosis/ #SpindleCroatia2026
National ERC Information Day in Zagreb! Together with other ERC panel members, we shared what happens behind closed panel doors, and with fellow ERC Synergy grantees, I talked about the full journey from the first idea to a funded grant. @erc.europa.eu link.europa.eu/dXQmbr
Researchers in Croatia, join us tomorrow at 9:30 in Zagreb or online to explore ERC grants! I’ll be sharing my experience from both sides of the table - as an ERC panel member and a grantee (Consolidator + Synergy). Bring your questions! @erc.europa.eu link.europa.eu/dXQmbr
Scientists, journalists, communicators, and policymakers in one room, rethinking how we talk about basic research in Europe! scicommforum.eu. See you at ZG SciComm 2026!