This story started during my post-doc with @tlaszlo.bsky.social while looking at TAFs isoforms for another project. Striking that a fundamental component of the basal transcription machinery can undergo such species-specific (rather drastic) evolutionary innovations. Thanks to everyone involved!

Check out our preprint where we describe, characterize and trace the origin of a novel human-specific isoform of TAF8, a scaffold subunit in TFIID. We were surprised to discover that TAF8 recently underwent genetic changes generating a truncated isoform with altered properties in humans!

High-resolution binding data of TFIID and cofactors show promoter-specific differences in vivo https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.22.691305v1

Read our new preprint where we uncover a hierarchy in human PIC assembly and establish a quantitative framework that connects factor exchange kinetics to the regulation of Pol II activity in living human cells. doi: doi.org/10.64898/202... By A. Oravecz and our collaborators @molinalab.bsky.social

Intrigued by a long-standing conundrum in small RNA biology—how nuclear Argonaute proteins silence transposons when they *need* target transcription for their own recruitment—we studied the piRNA pathway. And found a hidden RNA-decay axis from Piwi to the RNA exosome.

All of this was spearheaded by the exceptional experimentalist & scientist @changweiyu.bsky.social who came with a strong background in transcription from @tlaszlo.bsky.social and developed into a remarkable RNA biologist.

Please RT 📧 Registration open for ➡️"Summer School on Chromatin Biology" Our 2 weeks hands on expedition 🧪👩‍💻August 2026. 3. edition. Learn CUT@Tag, CUT@Run, ChIPseq, ATACseq AND to analyse your own data at @helmholtzmunich.bsky.social Daily letures by experts in the field ! ▶️ shorturl.at/jrA8i

Structure of the transcriptional co-activator SAGA complex (from fungus Chaetomium thermophilum), including the histone acetyltransferase module #cryoEM www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

What is a promoter? And how does it work? We very happy to share our latest work trying to understand enhancer-promoter compatibility. I am very excited about the results of @blanka-majchrzycka.bsky.social, which changed the way I think about promoters www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Today it was announced that Sir John Gurdon passed away. His ground-breaking discovery was that differentiated cells can be reprogrammed. He was a creative and distinguished developmental biologist, a kind person with a great inquisitive mind and original ideas www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...

With self-deprecating humor, Sir John loved to tell the story of his Biology teacher (1949)

Do not forget to apply to the FEBS Advanced Lecture Course: 6th Danube Conference on Epigenetics (19–22 October 2026, Budapest, Hungary. Will be a great meeting as always. Check out the site: network.febs.org/posts/febs-a...

"In our view, it [hexanediol] should thus be avoided and not be used as evidence for the formation of an assembly via phase separation or the fluid-like nature of a condensate in vitro or in vivo." doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Read this interesting preprint from the lab of Krishnamurthy Natarajan: Cotranslational assembly confers specificity for in vivo target heterodimerization of paralogous H2B-like TAF12 proteins in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

One more movie! Using the RL algorithm (from pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...), @masaashimazoe.bsky.social analyzed our nucleosome tracking data and classified them by their mobility. Hotter color = faster motion (Slow🔵→ 🟢 → 🟡 → 🟠 Fast)

Check out our new collaborative preprint about Affinity-ligand purification of native human low-abundance multi-protein complexes doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Exquisite work. Well done to the whole team.

🚨 New preprint out! Do you think Single Molecule Footprinting and Fiber-seq are super cool but aren't sure how to unlock their full potential? HiddenFoot can help you: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Friday we celebrated my 40 years of scientific career in France, with present and past lab members and many friends. It was a fantastic day full of emotions, memories and great science. Thanks for making the day so memorable !

The importance of moving away from bulk! Occupancy of Pol II at promoters is dramatically different between fly and mouse cells! When looking single molecule! Proud of the team! @kasitc.bsky.social @molinalab.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s443...

Two more weeks to send us your abstract! >20 abstract selected talks. Priority to junior scientists and cool biology on gene regulation (DNA/RNA/protein). Come to meet the world leaders in single molecule genomics and single molecule imaging! Help shaping the future of the field in the workshops!

Read our collaborative paper @longchrom.bsky.social and @molinalab.bsky.social showing that disruption of NuA4 and ATAC coactivator complexes cause gene-specific transcript buffering, suggesting that cells dynamically adjust RNA export/degradation to sustain cellular homeostasis.

Friends! The science that we love is under threat. World-wide, there're forces seeking to make it corporate-like, focused on deliverables, or even the enemy of society. Take a stand & celebrate science & music! #theconferencetoendallconferences - Registration starts NOW! woodstock.img.cas.cz

Thrilled to share our collaborative work on the structural basis and myeloma disease link of the midnolin-proteasome pathway with Chris Nardone from the Elledge lab, Jingjing Gao from the Shao lab @sshaolab.bsky.social and all the co-authors who put in the hard work! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

‼️ This Wednesday! Don’t forget to register as we host three amazing ECR scientists! @manucazottes.bsky.social @robertadolling1.bsky.social @leandrosboukas.bsky.social ⚡️Our recurring registration link: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Interesting piece on the role of intrinsically disordered regions in #transcriptionfactor specificity, target search etc. ➡️ www.nature.com/articles/s41... #generegulation

Search gets faster, binding longer, bound fraction of cohesin and CTCF goes up, especially at and after ZGA

Single molecules, in living zebrafish embryos, during hour-long period of development: Jonas' work on binding kinetics of cohesin and CTCF around ZGA now online. Great collab with labs of @lucagiorgetti.bsky.social @akispapantonis.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Program is out for our first EMBL #singlemolecule gene regulation meeting! Check out the dedicated panel sessions on single molecule genomics, single molecule imaging and theory where we would like to brainstorm the future of the field: Registration is open! 👇 www.embl.org/about/info/c...

The latest publication from our lab is online in @narjournal.bsky.social . Congratulations to @marcelwerner.bsky.social and Manuel Trauner for developing a novel system in mammalian cells to study Transcription-Replication conflicts and pointing DOT1L as a transcription mediator at TRC sites!

The first paper from our lab is online! A wonderful collaboration with @scottbscience.bsky.social lab. We discover that Pol II is extensively regulated by Ubiquitin at the beginning of the transcription cycle! www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

Today is #WorldCancerDay. Behind every diagnosis is a person, family, and friends who feel the devastating effects of cancer. Our work has never been more vital. With pioneering cancer research and groundbreaking discoveries, we can continue bringing hope to future generations.

Friday Lectures – Giacomo Cavalli Join us on Friday, 7th February at 3pm for a talk by Giacomo Cavalli, expert in Polycomb regulation and 3D genome architecture. He’ll explore how these mechanisms affect epigenetic inheritance and cancer development. Don’t miss it! #Epigenetics #Genomics #Cancer

My group @biovitenskap.bsky.social is #hiring a Post-doc in bioinformatics and biostatistics to work on #epigenetic memory in stem cells and during cell reprogramming. The position is co-supervised by @amathelier.bsky.social from @nordicembl.bsky.social

Tour de force! @metorrespadilla.bsky.social & team develop Smart-seq+5′ to map TSS in single embryos with unprecedented res revealing plethora of TE-driven transcripts in 5 mammal species. Some surprisingly old & conserved. Treasure trove of new biology for yrs to come! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

In a great collaboration with @hummerlab.bsky.social and the Kräusslich lab: HIV capsid doesn't break at the NPC; instead, it cracks open the NPC itself! Details in Cell: authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S... @mpibp.bsky.social @uniheidelberg.bsky.social A thread below:

In this study, Davidson et al. describe an alternative but conserved mechanism for RNA polymerase II transcription termination that occurs directly at T-tracts and independent of polyadenylation site-directed termination. #openaccess Learn more here: ➡️ tinyurl.com/gd351978

Brief thread on our opinion article "Q-rich activation domains: flexible ‘rulers’ for transcription start site selection?". Transcription people are surely aware of the important reports on the DNA sequence determinants of start site (TSS) selection in the human genome that came out this year. 1/15

Finally out! We present EXTRA-seq, a new EXTended Reporter Assay to quantify endogenous enhancer-promoter communication at kb scale! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A 🧵about what it can do: #SynBio #DeepLearning #GeneRegulation

Our collaborative paper is finally published in NAR, gkae1120, doi.org/10.1093/nar/gk…, we reveal that ATAC and SAGA histone acetyl transferase modules (i) acetylate histones to open chromatin AND (ii) facilitate TF targeting within nucleosomes independently of their acetylation activity.

RNA polymerase II transcription initiation in holo-TFIID-depleted mouse embryonic stem cells. www.cell.com/cell-reports...

ATAC and SAGA co-activator complexes utilize co-translational assembly, but their cellular localization properties and functions are distinct. www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Your favorite protein complex might start to assemble during the synthesis of its subunits. This can have functional consequences (especially if the complex regulates many genes). L. Tora & I discuss these aspects in a review article. doi.org/10.1016/j.jm... 1/5

Our story on Hierarchical TAF1-dependent co-translational assembly of the basal transcription factor TFIID (by Tora's lab). rdcu.be/d0sse An intriguing chapter on the molecular biology of this fascinating GTF. A short thread below.