Hello all, our lab is recruiting a PhD candidate to study how 3D genome folding impacts gene regulation in development. We're located at the Center for Integrative Genomics department of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Please email me if interested. #PhDPosition, #PhDOpportunity
The hinge bypass gate paper is finally out! doi.org/10.1038/s414... We show how loop-extruding SMC complexes can maintain DNA entrapment while bypassing obstacles on DNA — including transcription machinery & potentially other SMCs. A lucky convergence of 3 projects lead to the initial discovery!
The SMC Hinge is a Selective Gate for Obstacle Bypass - Nature Communications
SMC complexes are ring-shaped motors that fold DNA by extruding loops, but how they navigate large DNA obstacles is unclear. Here, Liu et al., show that SMC complexes bypass obstacles by threading obs...
doi.org
open postdoc call in our friendly neighborgroup with Esben Lorentzen. Higly recommed🌟: www.au.dk/om/stillinge...
Postdoctoral Position in Structural and mechanistic investigation of the ciliary trafficking machinery bound to cargo, Denmark - Ledig stilling på Aarhus Universitet
Ledig stilling ved Institut for Molekylærbiologi og Genetik - Proteinvidenskab, Aarhus Universitet
au.dk
This was a fun collaboration between Ophélie & the @seegerlab.bsky.social using sybody libraries to target the SMC complex in living bacteria. With a suprising finding: the 14 isolated sybodies bind to the middle of the SMC coiled coil rather than the more conserved ATPase heads.
bioRxiv Molecular Biology@biorxiv-molbio.bsky.social · 10mo agoSingle Domain Antibody Inhibitors Target the Coiled Coil Arms of the Bacillus subtilis SMC complex https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.16.682983v1
Single Domain Antibody Inhibitors Target the Coiled Coil Arms of the Bacillus subtilis SMC complex https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.16.682983v1
Something a bit different from the Gruber lab: More than 10 years ago, we (and others) tried to linearize the B. subtilis chromosome using a phage telomere (successfully used before in E. coli). But it did not work.
Happy to share our latest work. Wadjet-I SMC hinges are gates allowing selective bypass of obstacles connected through ssDNA BUT are dispensable for extrusion of naked DNA. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The SMC Hinge is a Selective Gate for Obstacle Bypass
DNA loop-extruding SMC complexes play vital roles in genome maintenance and DNA immunity. However, the ability of these ring-shaped DNA motors to navigate large DNA-bound obstacles, such as DNA/RNA po...
biorxiv.org
Stephan Gruber@gruberlab.bsky.social · last yr.Yet another preprint from the lab—this one is personal. During my PhD, I ended up working on the cohesin SMC hinge, showing its role in sister chromatid cohesion and proposing it as a DNA entry gate in the SMC ring. But the details have remained mysterious and controversial.
Yet another preprint from the lab—this one is personal. During my PhD, I ended up working on the cohesin SMC hinge, showing its role in sister chromatid cohesion and proposing it as a DNA entry gate in the SMC ring. But the details have remained mysterious and controversial.
The SMC Hinge is a Selective Gate for Obstacle Bypass https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.17.643644v1
The plasmids described in our recent ‘4G-cloning’ paper for multi-subunit complex expression (www.life-science-alliance.org/content/8/1/...) are now available from @addgene.bsky.social (www.addgene.org/search/catal...). Thanks to Addgene for distribution in this convenient and affordable format!
4G cloning: rapid gene assembly for expression of multisubunit protein complexes in diverse hosts
Multisubunit protein complexes are central to many cellular processes, and studying their activities and structures in vitro requires reconstitution via recombinant expression and purification. Obtain...
life-science-alliance.org
If your new year resolution is doing a PhD, there is still time left to apply for a project in my group looking at how the condensin complex undergoes such large conformational changes while making loops. I mean look at how cool the starting model is:
Preprint suggesting that (monomeric) SMC motors are asymmetric DNA loop extruders (with some being able to change direction). In our hands, this surprisingly includes Smc5/6 (unlike previously found) t.co/5GTyutD5o7 from Roman, C. Dekker and Jan-Michael Peters labs (& little contribution from us)
First preprint 📢 on bsky: New work on the Wadjet defence system by @roisnehamelinf.bsky.social & @drhonsworth.bsky.social revealing beautiful & exciting structures of JET on plasmid DNA. With loop extrusion, obstacles, DNA bending, kinking, cleavage 🦠🧫 🧪 t.co/RaO7IO3zDk With help from @DCI_Lausanne
