Megan M Sperry
Megan M Sperry is a named author on three papers from Michael Levin's collaborations that use Xenopus frog embryos. They cover tolerance of bacterial infection, group protection of embryos against a teratogen, and gene expression in Xenobots. Sperry is first author of the 2022 infection paper146.
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Tolerance of bacterial infection
In the 2022 paper, Xenopus embryos were infected with six clinical bacterial isolates. Embryos tolerated four of them without outward harm, and more than 80% survived up to 52 hours with high bacterial loads1. The authors then compared gene networks across species. IKBKE and CCND1 appeared in tolerance networks of both mouse and Xenopus2. Primates given LPS showed much wider network activation, while infected Xenopus showed only subtle expression changes at 4 hours and no subnetwork activation3.
Embryos in groups
The 2024 paper tested whether embryo group size changes the outcome of a teratogen. It concluded that larger groups were protected against thioridazine-induced death and craniofacial defects, and that faster drug breakdown in big cohorts did not explain this. The authors named the effect Cross-Embryo Morphogenetic Assistance4. Their computational model let embryos send only local supportive signals, with no access to a neighbor's internal state5.
Xenobot gene expression
The 2025 paper studied basal Xenobots, which are self-assembling, motile constructs made from frog ectodermal explants. Comparing three Xenobot samples with three embryo samples, it found higher variability between individual Xenobots in almost every gene6. Day 7 Xenobots also changed their motion under vibration, moving more linearly and faster, in a way inactive Xenobots and age-matched embryos did not7.
More than 80% of embryos survived infection with these microorganisms for up to 52 h (Figure 1A), while carrying median bacterial loads of 4.1–8.5 × 104 CFU (Figure 1B).
Sperry MM, Novak R, Keshari V, Dinis ALM, Cartwright MJ…, 2022 · Enhancers of Host Immune Tolerance to Bacterial Infection Discovered Using… · open at passage 4Notably, however, the genes IKBKE and CCND1 are involved in mouse as well as Xenopus active tolerance gene networks.
Sperry MM, Novak R, Keshari V, Dinis ALM, Cartwright MJ…, 2022 · Enhancers of Host Immune Tolerance to Bacterial Infection Discovered Using… · open at passage 12At this same time point, infected Xenopus exhibited only subtle differences in gene expression and no gene subnetwork activation (Figure 2).
Sperry MM, Novak R, Keshari V, Dinis ALM, Cartwright MJ…, 2022 · Enhancers of Host Immune Tolerance to Bacterial Infection Discovered Using… · open at passage 13We conclude that larger group size confers a significant protective effect against both thioridazine-induced death and craniofacial defects in a manner that cannot be explained by increased drug degradation in larger cohorts.
Tung A, Sperry MM, Clawson W, Pavuluri A, Bulatao S, Yue M…, 2024 · Embryos assist morphogenesis of others through calcium and ATP signaling… · open at passage 12Importantly, the model is designed to ensure that an embryo has no ‘knowledge’ of its neighbors’ internal processes
Tung A, Sperry MM, Clawson W, Pavuluri A, Bulatao S, Yue M…, 2024 · Embryos assist morphogenesis of others through calcium and ATP signaling… · open at passage 29In Xenobots, genes have significantly higher inter-individual CVs and a broader range of CVs than embryos (Wilcoxon Rank Sum test, p = 0) (Fig. 2B).
Pai VP, Pio-Lopez L, Sperry MM, Erickson P, Tayyebi P…, 2025 · Basal Xenobot transcriptomics reveals changes and novel control modality in… · open at passage 12However, upon exposure to vibration stimulus, day 7 Xenobots show marked change in motion behavior with a more linear/arcing motion behavior and a significant increase in peak velocity
Pai VP, Pio-Lopez L, Sperry MM, Erickson P, Tayyebi P…, 2025 · Basal Xenobot transcriptomics reveals changes and novel control modality in… · open at passage 24
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