GTPBP1 is a GTPase implicated in neurodevelopment. Our cryo-EM maps show GTPBP1 delivering tRNA to ribosome. Due to delayed GTPase dissociation, mRNA decoding is more stringent than with bona fide delivery factor eEF1A. Congrats to Denis Susorov and collab with Pestova lab! tinyurl.com/3smdvt3v

Check out our latest work on how collided ribosomes activate the MAP3K ZAK! 💫 www.nature.com/articles/s41... A fun collaboration with @beckmannlab.bsky.social @doubleshuang.bsky.social

Using "in extracto cryo-EM", we visualize ribosomes in mammalian lysates, including RRL. "Hibernating" ribosomes carry an extended set of proteins that protect functional centers. These include elongation factor eEF2, LARP1 implicated in mTOR signaling, eIF5A etc. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

ROOL monomers entangle with other monomers via strand swapping to form octameric RNA nanocages. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

With our ‪@RTI-UMassChan.bsky.social‬ colleagues Xiaobin Ling and Wenwen Fang, we report cryo-EM structures of enigmatic bacterial RNA nanocages made of ROOL RNAs. Octamers are held by "A-minor staples" and other interactions. Congrats Xiaobin, Dima et al! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Activation of Retron-Septu for antiphage defense. Congrats Tian-Min and all co-authors! www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Fresh off the press…our latest study on the Structure of a Gcn2 dimer in complex with the large 60S ribosomal subunit | great collaboration with inada and Zaher labs. Data collected by Bertrand Beckert at the DCI EPFL www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

I spoke up for science at the Worcester, MA hands off rally, followed Congressman Jim McGovern. #handsoff #protest #50501

RNA researcher Anastasia Khvorova, PhD, professor of RNA therapeutics at UMass Chan Medical School, receives the Else Kröner Fresenius Prize for Medical Research 2025! @umasschan.bsky.social Congratulations! 🎉 For more details: www.ekfs.de/en/current-t... www.ekfprize25.de #EKFprize25 #EKFS

Taking a cue from @cantlonlab.bsky.social, I have written an op-ed for my local newspaper about the impact of the NIH funding chaos. I'd appreciate it if you read and share. #NIH #Research #Science #Worcester www.telegram.com/story/opinio...

E. coli HrpA RNA helicase rescue collided ribosomes. From Buskirk-Beckmann-Green labs #RNASky #Ribosome 🧪 #MicroSky www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

Our paper on Stopless-ORF Circular RNAs (socRNAs) is now out in Cell. By high-res tracking and comparing translation by either single or multiple ribosomes, we find that ribosomes cooperate to overcome pausing to ensure fast and efficient translation www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Our review on small endogenous RNAs in animals is online: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... We thank @martinjsimard.bsky.social, @svobodalab.bsky.social and the third, anonymous, reviewer for helping us improve our manuscript. @lbmcinlyon.bsky.social @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social

"On a molecular level, our structural studies reveal that interdictors bind in a linkerless heterobifunctional manner to both the rRNA and the nascent peptide chain ... much the way a PROTAC can be modularly designed and constructed"

Gabriel Demo and colleagues found how a small archaeal protein (aRDF) dimerizes 30S subunits to prevent ribosome formation:

Using reporters with long unstructured 5’ UTRs, we examined which initiation factors are limiting for 40S scanning in yeast. Our results&literature led to the model that 40S scans 5’ UTRs for the start codon by one-dimensional diffusion rather than by helicase-driven translocation.

Our latest work is out in Nature today! Using smFRET, we directly visualized recruitment of the eIF4F complex to the 5' cap of eukaryotic mRNAs and formation of an activated mRNA. Our findings reveal new and surprising roles for each eIF4F component. 1/3 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

RiSANA is online! We detail the Ribosome Stimulated Angiogenin Nuclease Assay (RiSANA) to explore: (a) whether Angiogenin is activated by bacterial 70S ribosomes; and (b) whether the closest homolog RNase 4 is stimulated by 80S: tinyurl.com/3fftczrw Congrats Emily Sholi and Anna Loveland!

This is a lovely piece about the 2024 Nobel Prize to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, written by Bruce Wightman, the first author of one of the prize-winning papers. It emphasizes the importance of fundamental research and the beauty of heterochronic genes. #Celegans #devbio 🧪🧬 doi.org/10.1242/dmm....

Yeast ribosomes adapt to glucose starvation by tethering to mitochondria in hibernation. Prolonged depletion halts protein synthesis and remodels ribosomes to create protective ribosome arrays. #ribosomes #RNASky #RNABiology #translation rdcu.be/d1xqj

Very happy to share our new publication on the interaction between two nonsense mediated mRNA decay factors (Upf1 and yeast Nmd4 or human SMG6). 🍾 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

The dark side of fluorescent protein tagging: the impact of protein tags on biomolecular condensation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

instant classic, timeless insights, from the legend himself "The three central functions of protein synthesis...evolved from the properties of RNA, the founding macromolecule of life....these functions (and even life itself) seem to proceed in defiance of entropy." www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

How long does an mRNA stay in the nucleus? How long does it stay in the cytoplasm? In an amazing collaboration with @landthalerm.bsky.social, we used metabolic labeling, cell fractionation and mathematical modeling to quantify mRNA flow through the cell. Finally out in MSB: doi.org/10.1038/s443...

Activation of GCN2 relies on crossed helices at the dimer core: https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae528/7906550

Ribosomes unexpectedly moonlight as activators of angiogenin enzyme https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01510-w

Angiogenin controls angiogenesis (et plus) by nicking tRNAs. But it’s barely active alone. We discovered how 80S ribosome unlocks Ang’s active site and “brings in” tRNAs. Congrats to Anna Loveland and collab. w/@ajplanetearth! https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07508-8

Congratulations to Dr. Christine Carbone on the 2023 @UMassChan Chancellor's thesis award! Her PhD work clarifies ribosome rescue (http://rdcu.be/b9EtA) and ribosome translocation, via time-resolved cryo-EM (http://rdcu.be/cC6E9). Christine, congrats on your achievements!

Congrats to Dr. Christine Carbone on exemplar thesis defense! Christine @seussofscience used cryo-EM to visualize ribosomal translocation by EF-G*GTP (https://rdcu.be/cC6E9) and ribosome rescue by ArfB (https://rdcu.be/b9EtA) – an exciting science journey full of surprises!

Polikanov lab reports that growing peptides form a β-strand-like conformation in the ribosomal tunnel: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-022-01073-1

How do Dicer-1 and Loqs-PB make miRNA? We captured 6 cryo-EM structures showing stages of pre-miRNA cleavage. Dicer•Loqs bend pre-miRNA to cleave the right targets: https://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/fulltext/S1097-2765(22)00853-X Fun collab. with @zamore_lab and Traci Hall...

In a News piece, Nature wrote: "AlphaFold tool has determined [sic] the structures of around 200 million proteins" and "From today, determining the 3D shape of almost any protein known to science will be as simple as typing in a Google search." Which method(s) does AlphaFold use?

Hot off the press: new review @AnnualReviews discusses recent time-resolved cryo-EM studies visualizing how ribosome moves and interacts with translation factors to achieve efficient and accurate translation. “The Structural Dynamics of Translation”: https://tinyurl.com/2ezt9st9

GGGGCC repeat expansion in C9ORF2 gene causes neurodegeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The repeats produce peptides, such as poly-GR and poly-PR. We show that poly-GR/PR bind the ribosome peptide tunnel and block protein synthesis: https://rdcu.be/cNTwi

Thousands of Russian scientists signed open letter urging to stop Putin’s war against Ukraine: https://trv-science.ru/2022/02/we-are-against-war/

Here is the second issue of articles and reviews dedicated to Alexander S. Spirin: https://link.springer.com/journal/10541/volumes-and-issues/86-9 Read up on informosomes, IRES RNAs and, of course, ribosomes.

Two issues of commemorative articles and reviews are dedicated to Alexander S. Spirin, an outstanding scientist and visionary, who passed away last year. Here is Part I on ribosomes, origin of life, RNA and more: https://link.springer.com/journal/10541/volumes-and-issues/86-8

mRNA frameshifting controls expression of some proteins; viruses use it to expand their coding repertoire. Our paper with @YaMingHou1 discusses +1 frameshifting as mRNA moves through the ribosome: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24911-1 Congrats to G. Demo and all...

Hot off the press: an excellent comprehensive review of ribosome rescue mechanisms in bacteria, by @WilsonLab2 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.652980/full

Ever wondered how the ribosome "hops" over a nucleotide to shift to another mRNA frame? We captured cryo-EM structures showing +1 frameshifting as EF-G translocates tRNA and mRNA. Check out preprint by Gabriel Demo et al; in collab with Ya-Ming Hou's lab: http://disq.us/t/3tupvfl

Exciting opportunity - Faculty Position, @UMassMedical. University of Massachusetts Medical School is searching for a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual to join a team of active engaged faculty. Learn more here: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/17755 Please RT

Postdoc position open in @KorostelevLab, University of Massachusetts Medical School. An opportunity to study translation, cell stress, neurobiology by cryo-EM, in situ EM, biochemistry. For detail and application information:...

Anna Loveland from our laboratory was named among 2020 STAT Wunderkinds, a distinction given to inspiring early-career scientists for their groundbreaking research. Congratulations, Anna!...

Ribosomes jam if mRNA is cut. But ArfB comes to rescue! It sneaks into mRNA tunnel and frees the peptide. We find that ArfB works on short and extended poly(A) mRNAs: here, ArfB dimer binds mRNA off the tunnel. See cryo-EM/biochem work by Carbone et al: https://rdcu.be/b9EtA

Expanded GGGGCC repeats in the C9ORF72 gene cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia. They produce toxic repeat proteins poly-PR and poly-GR. With Fen-Biao Gao's lab, we found how these peptides bind ribosomes and block translation:...

@UMassMedical covered and explained our story on tRNA proofreading: https://www.umassmed.edu/news/news-archives/2020/07/umass-medical-school-researchers-visualize-new-states-of-ribosome-translation-with-cryo-em/

Nanoluciferase glows right upon release from the ribosome. This can be harnessed to study how ribosomes release complete or incomplete peptides (as in premature nonsense-codon diseases), and search for read-through drugs. See manuscript by Susorov et al:...