Delighted to announce #RecombMechanisms is back for its 3rd edition next July! This conference will bring together leaders in the fields of DNA recombination (mitotic & meiotic), repair, replication, transcription, epigenetics, and cancer biology. Sign up for updates now➡️https://bit.ly/4pFcLAq

Val di Mello and Preda Rossa in Valtellina, Italy

Happy to share our collaborative project with Stephane Marcand, on the protective role of Rap1 at telomeres. It turned out that our favorite protein, MRX, has the ability to measure telomere length, and activate response pathways when telomeres become too short. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Interesting paper from Virginie Ropars and collegues about the architecture of WRN and KU interaction. Interestingly, WRN binds on the internal (end-distal) side of KU. Thanks for this interesting collaboration! @pietropichierri.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

After a week-long meeting and excellent science in the Netherlands, it is nice to be back in the mountains.

Happy to share our new pre-print on the dependency of ALT-positive tumors on the DNA translocase SMARCAL1. Outstanding work of @angelotaglialatela.bsky.social in collaboration with the Min, Lazzerini Denchi and @cejkalab.bsky.social laboratories! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Sea of clouds is over central Switzerland today

Dear Colleagues, Delighted to share that our first lab paper is now published in Nature.!!! 😊😊😊 We identify a previously concealed “safety limit” in DNA replication program: cells intrinsically rate-limit PCNA via PAF15, shaping strand-specific and global replication dynamics. 👉 rdcu.be/e1bBt

PAF15–PCNA exhaustion governs the strand-specific control of DNA replication

Nature - PCNA–PAF15 has a key role in determining replisome dynamics during genome replication and protecting against genome instability.

rdcu.be

Middle of January in central Switzerland, but very little snow. More for hiking than skiing…

New paper in collaboration with @unterholznerlab.bsky.social @cejkalab.bsky.social IFI16 protects stalled replication forks. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

IFI16 senses and protects stalled replication forks

Replication stress is a key driver of DNA damage and genome instability. Here, we report that replication stress induces an inflammatory response in t…

sciencedirect.com

We've got a new paper out! In collaboration with @stapleslab.bsky.social @cejkalab.bsky.social @lucyhjackson-j.bsky.social, we show that IFI16 binds to stalled replication forks, protects nascent DNA and mediates an inflammatory response to replication stress. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

🚨 Exciting news! Our latest study is out in Nature Communications! We reveal how specific BRCA2 mutations can hijack transcriptional programs—beyond their role in DNA repair. 🔗 rdcu.be/eT1R9 #CancerResearch #BRCA2 #Genomics

A recurrent pathogenic BRCA2 truncating variant reveals a role for BRCA2-PCAF complex in modulating NF-κB-driven transcription - Nature Communications

Pathogenic BRCA2 truncating variants in heterozygosis drive distinct cancer-linked mechanisms. Here the authors show that one causes PARPi sensitivity and HR loss via haploinsufficiency, while another...

nature.com

What does phosphorylation do to RPA? This has been a long-standing question in the field of genome integrity. In our newest publication in Nature Communications rdcu.be/eT4z3 with @proforiganti.bsky.social , we reveal the answer. Thanks to funding from NIGMS to our groups.

a man is sitting on a couch with his arms outstretched and making a funny face .

ALT: a man is sitting on a couch with his arms outstretched and making a funny face .

media.tenor.com

Sofi Origanti@proforiganti.bsky.social · 8mo ago

This was another fun collaboration with @professorantony.bsky.social and big thanks to lead authors (Poonam Roshan, Ayush Mistry and Vikas Kaushi) and to all the co-authors. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Late fall impressions from Lugano lake.

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY We need a structural biologist to work on several CryoEM datasets. For more information, please visit: www.antonylab.org Expertise in structure refinement and model-building are required. Please share.

ANTONY LAB SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Edwin Antony Lab Website

antonylab.org

November magic in Graubünden

Among the anti-recombinases, FIGNL1 rules them all. So much that inactivating it brings BRCA2-deficient cells to life. Who is responsible for RAD51 loading without BRCA2/FIGNL1, check out the paper to find out! Great collaboration with @raychaudhurilab.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

See our paper “Mechanism of trinucleotide repeat expansion by MutSβ-MutLγ and contraction by FAN1”. Using biochemistry, we show how DNA incisions by the MutLγ nuclease can lead to expansions, and how expansion is prevented by FAN1. Well done Issam and Valentina! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Lake Como with plenty of fall sunshine today

Golden October in its glory. Mountains in Ticino today.

Trip to Greina plateau, northern Ticino

Last hike in August with first snow

JOB ALERT 🚨 We are hiring TWO principal investigators in cell, molecular, systems, or chemical biology in Toronto, Canada at @sinaihealth.bsky.social. We provide a generous startup, fully funded salary and academic appointment at U of Toronto. www.nature.com/naturecareer... Please repost!

Hiking in Switzerland today, Val Poschiavo

Please see our latest paper on the role of EXO1 in meiosis: "EXO1 promotes the meiotic MLH1-MLH3 endonuclease through conserved interactions with MLH1, MSH4 and DNA". Congratulations to both first authors, Megha Roy and Aurore Sanchez and thanks to all our collaborators!

Southern Alps today

🧬 New research discovers sequential phosphorylation of MRE11 by ATM and ATR prevents extensive DNA degradation at stalled replication forks www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

ATM priming and end resection–coupled phosphorylation of MRE11 is important for fork protection and replication restart | PNAS

The MRE11/RAD50/NBS1 (MRN) complex plays multiple roles in the maintenance of genome stability. MRN is associated with replication forks to preserv...

pnas.org

Nice weekend everyone from sunny Bellinzona

Great news, thank you

Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)@snsf.ch · last yr.

The SNSF welcomes #Switzerland’s retroactive association to #HorizonEurope from 1 Jan 2025, enabling researchers to join nearly all calls following the Federal Council’s approval of the EU Programmes Agreement. Find out more here ➡️

New preprint from the lab, revealing new roles for IFI16 during replication stress. Great collab with @unterholznerlab.bsky.social and @cejkalab.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

IFI16 senses and protects stalled replication forks

Replication stress is a key driver of DNA damage and genome instability. Replication stress-induced fork remodelling generates a new DNA end that is vulnerable to the action of nucleases, and which is...

biorxiv.org