#USASP_2026 Come see some cool research using novel tools to measure neuronal activity by the Szablowski Lab at Rice @jerzyszablowski.bsky.social

Because my lab was located at a @nprcnews.bsky.social we had resources to move fast and within months Jerzy and Sin had redesigned a version of the RMA protein for IG1 Fc receptor in primates they called, NHP-RMAs. We injected the protein into the brain and O.M.G it worked inspiring this tweet.

Monitoring gene expression in the brain with a simple blood test? In collaboration with @jerzyszablowski.bsky.social & his lab we figured out how to do it nonhuman primates using noninvasive neuroengineering of synthetic serum markers. nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

How can serum marker tests be made more sensitive? The lab of @jerzyszablowski.bsky.social shows that editing markers in vivo to reduce their half-life can provide more sensitive measurement of gene expression dynamics. Read more: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Neat www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Addgene now has the NHP-RMAs available - the synthetic serum markers for measuring transgene and Cre-dependent expression, from the preprint (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...) with @vincentcostaphd.bsky.social lab. plasmids for order: www.addgene.org/browse/artic...

How can you know if gene delivery in a primate worked Typically through expensive scans or histology. With @vincentcostaphd.bsky.social and co-authors we made synthetic markers that monitor gene delivery and Cre-dependent expression with a blood test: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

What is the next frontier in brain therapy? Small molecules act everywhere; our work targets brain regions with mm precision. Next frontier? Targeting microscale - neuronal connections, ensembles. Here, we test AAV9.retro for noninvasive transduction of neuronal projections. preprint comments

The MIT McGovern Institute’s story celebrating the 10th birthday of expansion microscopy (ExM). One highlight: ExM is not only easy to do, it’s easy to modify - so lots of people are altering and applying ExM for custom purposes, leading to unexpected innovations: mcgovern.mit.edu/2025/03/03/t...

Posting this image of neurons transfected to secrete proteins that @jerzyszablowski.bsky.social bioengineered to enable noninvasive monitoring of neuronal integrity in NHPs for #fluorescentfriday. This technology will eventually lead to improved treatments for neurodegenerative disorders.

We are starting our @ARIA_research Precision Neurotechnologies project and have two non-postdoc positions in neuroscience and bioengineering. This funding is independent of US government. Jobs: emdz.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid... More info: tinyurl.com/hwsnrwpe -- please RT --

Did you all start sciencing harder recently, or something?

A quick reminder: For every $1 of research funding, NIH generated $2.46 in economic activity. This includes funding jobs in all 50 states. This isn't a red/blue thing: 8.9 jobs per $1M in CA & 12 jobs per $1M in GA. #AcademicSky #PhDSky #MedSky #HealthSky #healthequity #SciComm bit.ly/40NkIc0

I am looking forward to working with @LignaniLab_UCL and others on this @ARIA_research neurotechnologies grant. A ~$2.5m contribution to our lab's work that will help us make next generation noninvasive brain therapies for specific brain circuits. news.rice.edu/news/2025/ri...

If some calcium enters a dendrite, how far does it diffuse? Rebecca Frank Hayward (who is on the job market!) measured this. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... She combined a blue light-activated Ca++ channel with a red-fluorescent Ca++ sensor. The length constant is about 5 microns.

We designed MS2 and PP7 binding coat proteins that are degraded in cells except when bound by their hairpin RNAs. You can check out our pre-print here: tinyurl.com/27p7hyt9, and listen to a Google AI-generated podcast on it here: notebooklm.google.com/notebook/d71...

qPCR can measure expression of virtually any gene... in homogenized tissues. Here, we show an "in-vivo qPCR" equivalent, where we measure a sequence-specific transcript with synthetic serum markers and enzyme-based signal amplification. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Today we report that an engineered skin bacterium, swabbed gently on the head of a mouse, can unleash a potent antibody response against a pathogen. Could lead to topical vaccines that are applied in a cream. @djenetbousbaine.bsky.social led the charge... @natureportfolio.bsky.social 1/55

"E11 Bio is excited to share a major step towards brain mapping at 100x lower cost, making whole-brain connectomics at human & mouse scale feasible (🧠→🔬→💻). Critical for curing brain disorders, building human-like AI systems, and even simulating human brains." -CEO Andrew Payne e11.bio/news/roadmap

Our recent study now out in print at Nature Biotech: Gene expression in the mouse brain is measured with a simple blood draw go.nature.com/48NC0a5 rdcu.be/d1rY1

Could one envision a synthetic receptor technology that is fully programmable, able to detect diverse extracellular antigens – both soluble and cell-attached – and convert that recognition into a wide range of intracellular responses, from gene expression and real-time fluorescence to modulation..

We have two postdoc positions coming up for early next year in NHP neuroscience with FUS-BBBO and molecular engineering foci. Let me know if you know someone interested!

Excited to share a new review on Magnets for Mechanobiology - teamed up w/ fellow 🧲 enthusiasts from Boston/Madrid/Zurich/Singapore to share how we manipulate cellular microenvironments w/ magnetic fields! Thanks to @danielgmadrid11.bsky.social for bringing us together! doi.org/10.1002/aisy...

We got a summary statement from NIH just 17 days after the study section. Is that a new record?

I am looking forward to coming back to @MIT for Neurotech 2024 tomorrow in Bldg 46! I will talk about noninvasive interfacing with the brain, including new projects with our postdoc Sho Watanabe and collaborators @vincentcostaphd.bsky.social and Rui Chen (UCI). neurotech.mit.edu

What happens when you can take videos of acoustic proteins in 3D inside the body? 🧊 You can see things like the flow of CSF in the brain! 🧠 Congrats to Sunho Lee, co-senior author Claire Rabut, and colleagues on "Takoyaki" ultrasound. 🥟 #gasvesicles www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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