💥 🚀 New preprint! 🎉🥳 How do hundreds of organelles organize themselves into near-perfect patterns inside a cell, without a blueprint? We dive deep into how basal bodies (BBs) self-organize in MCCs - and how actin actively tunes their dynamics into order 🍪 🧵👇 (1/17)

New blog post: "Automating science" https://blog.khinsen.net/posts/2026/05/19/automating-science.html How much of scientific research can be automated? And is this a good idea?

Open Postdoc Position - Giant E3 ligases: mysterious mechanisms & non‑protein substrates. Interested? Join us to uncover how these molecular giants tag lipids, RNAs, sugars beyond proteins, on organelles and pathogens, to defend the cell. Details & Application here www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...

I wrote a blog on metaphors that I find useful for ''the age of AI' msuskiewicz.github.io/blog/

You know the most destructive molecule for my experiments is Air? ITC thermogram shifts? Bubble. Gel refuses to run properly? Bubble. Crystallization ruined? Bubble. Mysterious signal artifacts? Also bubble. My troubleshooting career = fighting microscopic air pockets with a pipette tip. #origichals

#ResultatScientifique🔎| Une bactérie capable de changer de « bouclier » pour mieux s’adapter à son environnement : une stratégie étonnante de Klebsiella pneumoniae qui éclaire ses capacités d’évolution et de résistance. ✍️ @olayarendueles.bsky.social @julielebris.bsky.social ▶️ buff.ly/q8AKHo1

Out today - structure of the human HIRA histone chaperone complex bound to nucleosomes. Ever wondered how nucleosomes are assembled in the wake of transcription? It takes a 'hulk of a protein complex'. Work by the amazing Wei Tian weetian558.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵

Yay ! it is published ! Congrats to all the authors in @laurentterradot.bsky.social and @cinflammasome.bsky.social labs.

The architecture of carriers formed by AP3:ARF1 for lysosomal membrane protein transport: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/.... Work from @jggkaufman.bsky.social, in collaboration with @dgershlick.bsky.social and David Owen. @mpibiochem.bsky.social @thecimr.bsky.social

A new preprint from the lab showing how Atg1 regulates the BLTP Atg2. This study was spearheaded by Sonja Achleitner and Susanna Tulli, involving a fantastic collaboration with @ainaraclaveras.bsky.social and Gerhard Hummer. @maxperutzlabs.ac.at @viennabiocenter.bsky.social @maxplanck.bsky.social

New OA Article: "In situ architecture of plasmodesmata in Physcomitrium resolved by cryo-electron tomography" rdcu.be/fjjiK Plasmodesmata are gated by cell wall remodelling; helical protein assemblies scaffold internal membranes; implications for molecular filtering.

MPEL1 is a new type of plant SUMO ligase that enhances maize resistance to Fusarium pathogens via an MPEL1–MAPK16–JAZ20 immune pathway, without adverse effects on yield Yanli Lu 卢艳丽 and collaborators link.springer.com/article/10.1...

We identify novel catalytically impaired PARP1 mutants and show that the toxicity of some variants in cells can be rescued by the PARP inhibitor saruparib. Thus, in specific contexts, saruparib plays a pro-survival role rather than a cytotoxic one. www.cell.com/cell-reports...

This looks very interesting. Will be one of my next reads (but perhaps after the paternity leave).

Super happy to see the final version of our paper out now 🎉🎉🎉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Proud of PhD student Rupesh @rupeshjayachandran.bsky.social and postdoc Erwan for doing really nice work on this 😊

Over the past 5 years, 50 structures of full-length HECT-type ligase constructs have been deposited in the PDB. What have we learned from these studies, and what key questions remain open? Check out our new review on this exciting and fast-moving field: www.jbc.org/article/S002...

There's an evolutionary arms race between cholera-causing bacteria and their viral predators go.nature.com/4wq21cg

Our paper is finally out! 🥳 If you want to know how a single Salmonella effector rewires the whole macrophage transcriptional landscape by hijacking one host transcription factor, check our latest research! Thanks to the @thurstonlab.bsky.social and @peterwshill.bsky.social labs for an amazing work!

🦠💡 Bacteria have millions of secret weapons against viruses! Researchers used AI to uncover millions of new bacterial proteins likely involved in antiviral defense — suggesting immunity genes make up ~1.5% of the genome, 3× more than thought. 🔗 www.pasteur.fr/en/research-... @audeber.bsky.social

#RIP Pierre Chambon (1931-2026) via @alainberetz.bsky.social one of the last giants in biology: PARP, nuclear receptors, RNA Pol II, nucleosome, promoters, split genes

Very excited to share our preprint on BAG6 and RNF126 in cytosolic protein quality control—from BioID to degron mapping. Along with @rhp-lab.bsky.social, we show this pathway plays a major role in targeting misfolded cytosolic proteins for degradation #proteostasis www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I am happy to share a review I recently wrote on the design of peptide binders. It gives an overview of experimentally validated tools and discusses the challenges of why peptide design is more difficult than the design of classical protein binders. www.chimia.ch/chimia/artic...

In personal news, our son Elian was born today. The mother and the baby boy are well. Great happiness and gratitude.

A new paper in which we could contribute structural insights to the great biochemical work from our collaborators from UNC Chapel Hill. Sascha Amann from our lab was yet again able to solve several very challenging structures. This time of a SCF with Protac and target www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Online Now: Alu repeat-containing RNAs spatially organize actively transcribed genomic regions around nuclear speckles Online now:

Interested in non-proteinaceous ubiquitination, induced proximity or glycogen? Then you should have a look at our newest article, “Ubiquitination of glycogen and metabolites in cells and tissues”, just published in Nature: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Out now in Nature Communications! We show that Dictyostelium vaults associate with ER and NE membranes in situ and encapsulate ribosomes with defined orientations, shining new light on their cellular function! #TeamTomo #TeamMassSpec #ProtistsOnSky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🎉Excited to share our new preprint! TIR domains from diverse animals, including human TLR4, are catalytically active and produce cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR). This enzymatic activity is widespread in animals and conserved across the tree of life. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

"The selfish ribosome" paper is now published in @plosbiology.org . Have a look! Many thanks to the editors and reviewers! doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Calling all xray structure folks that have worked with denovo proteins. Do you suffer from high rfactors? Myself, someone else I know and now multiple structures all seem to suffer from this. Assuming we all tried our best in model building, what could be some causes?

Have you wondered what the wet lab success rates are for current AI-driven protein design models? Look no further! In our new review, @kevinkaichuang.bsky.social @avapamini.bsky.social, @sarahalamdari.bsky.social, and I report wet lab success rates for *over 200* different protein design tasks 🧬💻

The culmination of a fantastic collaboration between our lab and Bob Yauch’s lab that resulted in the uncovering of a proteosomal regulatory mechanism for PP2A. Congratulations to all the authors! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Great to see @agwrobel.bsky.social there. In parallel to our individual LS1-panel grants, we work together on an HFSP grant on a side topic.

Last Friday I had the HUGE pleasure of visiting LS1 @erc.europa.eu grantees based at the University of Oxford and to give an info session on all the changes implemented in the 2026 WP. Thanks so much for the warm welcome @agwrobel.bsky.social, @georgiaisom.bsky.social and @achilleskap.bsky.social!

🎉 As we celebrate #TIBS50, we're highlighting #CitedClassics and revisiting the top cited article from each of the last 50 years! Check out this one from 1989! Read it here 👉 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Congratulations to our Head of Department, @mjafreeman.bsky.social, awarded the @biochemsoc.bsky.social Centenary Award! This recognises his contributions in the field of intramembrane proteases and pseudoproteases, and his commitment to supporting talent within the scientific community.

* By the way, if you heard about Top7 (Nobel prize, Science paper, >2000 citations), but not Top7-cfr (JMB paper, 36 citations), you are in for a treat. When Top7 is expressed in E coli, a fraction of it is mistranslated into a 49 residue C-terminal fragment. 4/n doi.org/10.1016/j.jm...

CDK1-dependent N-terminal NuMA phosphorylation promotes dynein-dynactin-NuMA assembly for accurate chromosome segregation

Just look at this graph (Fig 5A,B from Koeber et al). Amazing. Congratulations to the Pollard lab and all authors. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We show that the E3 ubiquitin ligase DTX2 creates a dual hybrid ADP-ribosyl-ubiquitin mark (ADPr-Ub) at DNA damage sites, driving the recruitment of RNF114, RNF138, and RNF166 proteins independently of HPF1. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

🥁 New insights alert! Today, we take you into the fascinating world of RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligases through this article from our #Highlights2025 collection. 📕 RING dimerisation drives higher-order organisation of SINA/SIAH E3 ubiquitin ligases ➡️ buff.ly/rIErxm1 #ubiquitin #E3ligase #RING #SIAH1

Une soirée, 2 prix, et une immense fierté pour le CBM. Félicitations à nos #doctorants ! Le 30/03/26, à l’occasion de la 13ᵉ de la 1/2 finale locale de #MT180 par @cnrs.fr, @franceuniversites.bsky.social et l’ @univorleans.bsky.social, au Bouillon, 2 de nos docs ont brillé:

"C'est un choix pour nos sociétés, pour l'avenir", les chercheurs du CNRS protestent après l'annonce d'une nouvelle coupe budgétaire par le gouvernement pour 2026. www.francebleu.fr/emissions/l-...

I wrote an essay. It’s about gain-of-function mutations. And penguins. Also ion channels, chihuahuas, the film Alien, recycled cardboard, and the Apollonian mind. Oh, and muffins. Thanks to the editors of #GENETICS @genetics-gsa.bsky.social for letting me take some stylistic liberties. 1/2

The paper describing our sensitive poly-ADPr antibodies and a few other things is now out in Nature Communications. Congrats to all the authors!! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Hey, I wrote a thing about AI in astrophysics ergosphere.blog/posts/the-ma...

Hyperosmotic stress induces PARP1-mediated HPF1-dependent mono(ADP-ribosyl)ation: febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

A cool new study from @ahellab.bsky.social showing clear in vitro ADP-ribosylation of uridine. With contributions - amlong others - from our colleagues @ucagne.bsky.social and Guillaume @cbm-upr4301.bsky.social and a tiny bit from us.

Out now in @science.org Pearling drives mitochondrial DNA nucleoid distribution | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...