We can design "static" binders routinely now, but design of "dynamic" shape-changing proteins has remained quite hard. Jeffrey Chang and I asked: why can't we couple small-molecule binding to shape change? After all, natural proteins do it every day. In a new preprint, we show how it can be done. 🧵

For the last 5 years, my lab has focused on developing mutational scanning methods and learning how to answer specific questions in protein biology. @matthewkhoward.bsky.social and I wrote a review on experimental decisions and future directions for our nascent field! doi.org/10.1146/annu...

Mechanistic Mutational Scanning to Uncover the Secret Life of Proteins

Deep mutational scanning (DMS) has emerged as a transformative tool for dissecting individual protein function and broader cell biology. DMS methods enable comprehensive interrogation of sequence–func...

annualreviews.org

Welcome to the lab, Yijin Wang! 🎉 Yijin joins us as a Neuroscience grad student, fresh from UCLA, where she trained in systems neuroscience and stroke recovery across the Silva and Carmichael labs. She's now bringing that lens to GPCR structural pharmacology. Thrilled to have you! @dornsife.usc.edu

CryoSPARC workshop in Toronto! Beyond consensus refinements: Advanced cryo-EM data processing with CryoSPARC Sept 24-25, 2026 (part of the Canadian Cryo-EM Nexus) Register here: cvent.me/dL1wem Please see details in the link or the image Alt text @structurabio.bsky.social @sickkidsto.bsky.social

Recently graduated grad student @lauanderson.bsky.social ‘s paper is now officially published! We got some great feedback from reviewers, leading to a more solid manuscript, as the peer review process should work! doi.org/10.1016/j.jb...

Jennifer Cash@jencash.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Preprint of grad student @lauanderson.bsky.social ‘s manuscript is out now! With an integrative structural biology approach, we studied a peripherally membrane-associated signaling protein, comparing it to a 56% identical homolog. We found some exciting differences! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Incredibly proud of Messi Haile @mehsehret.bsky.social, a founding member of the Ho Lab, for her beautiful work uncovering the inner workings of a central piece of the malaria parasite invasion machinery: the malarial moving junction, out today in @cellpress.bsky.social! tinyurl.com/4p3md2eb 🦠❄️🔬

Come join the new Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Design as a group leader Cool science in a great scientific environment in wonderful and very family friendly Copenhagen There are two positions that can either be at TT assistant or associate prof level employment.ku.dk/tenure-track...

Tenure-track Assistant Professor or Associate Professor of De novo Protein Design

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Design at the University of Copenhagen seeks to appoint two new group leaders in de novo protein design from 1 February 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter. These positions will be at the Assistant or Associate Professor level and associated with the Department of Biology (Faculty of Science) or the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology (Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences).

employment.ku.dk

Excited to be giving a seminar at Harvard Medical School's Dept. of Biological Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology! A big thank you to Andrew Kruse for hosting,it's a privilege to share our lab's work on GPCR conformational dynamics and opioid receptor pharmacology with such an outstanding community.

Welcoming Dr. Jeppe Nielsen to the lab! Lundbeck Foundation-funded Postdoc, recent graduate from the University of Copenhagen, and the person who helped show the world what cocaine looks like bound to the dopamine transporter. Great to have you back! 🎉 lnkd.in/gRjxdC3r @lundbeckfonden.bsky.social

This is money well spent. Well done @biophysicalsoc.bsky.social

In Preparation@inprep.bsky.social · 2mo ago

One, perhaps two, of our postdocs are moving on to faculty positions this year (more news soon!). While they're truly irreplaceable, it does mean that we have openings for new members to join our team studying #cilia. If interested, please apply: academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15526

That’s a wrap on #ASPET2026 in Minneapolis! Our lab attended our first ASPET meeting this year, and it did not disappoint — brilliant presentations, cutting-edge science, and one of the warmest scientific communities we’ve been part of. Safe travels to everyone heading home. See you next year!

Thanks for sharing your plasmids! 💙🧬

Cornelius Gati@gati.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We're sharing our nuc-BRET plasmids on Addgene! This assay measures GDP/GTP-dependent BRET signal changes as a proxy for affinities, which correlate with ligand efficacy at opioid receptor-G protein complexes. High sensitivity for low-efficacy partial agonists that slip through conventional assays.

Next stop NYC! 🗽 Thrilled to present our latest work on the conformational landscape of opioid receptor activation at Weill Cornell Med Biochemistry & Biophysics. Thanks to my friend & collaborator Dr. Joshua Levitz for the invitation - can’t wait for the discussions! @weillcornell.bsky.social

We're sharing our nuc-BRET plasmids on Addgene! This assay measures GDP/GTP-dependent BRET signal changes as a proxy for affinities, which correlate with ligand efficacy at opioid receptor-G protein complexes. High sensitivity for low-efficacy partial agonists that slip through conventional assays.

Huge day for our lab! Congrats to Aaliyah Tyson on TWO incredible milestones: the prestigious USC WiSE PhD Merit Award AND passing her qualifying exam with flying colors! She embodies the brilliance, determination, and grit that drive great science. Onward to the dissertation home stretch! 🔬

I’m looking for an automated way to read others’s scientific data without giving credit or acknowledgement, and also claim full credit for insights from it. And I want it to have a fitting name OAI: say no more

OpenAI {bot}@openaibot.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Introducing GPT-Rosalind, our frontier reasoning model built to support research across biology, drug discovery, and translational medicine. Video: https://twitter.com/openai/status/2044861690911850863

What membrane properties do cells maintain through regulation of lipid metabolism? In a new paper, we identify intrinsic curvature stress as one such parameter and show how different (eukaryotic) cell types employ different lipids to do that www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Active regulation of intrinsic curvature by eukaryotic phospholipid metabolism

Cells maintain membrane function by actively balancing the molecular shape of their lipids. Milshteyn et al. find that, when subjected to high hydrostatic pressure, yeast and human cells, but not bact...

cell.com

Structural insights into biased signaling at chemokine receptor CCR7 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42054364/ #cryoEM

New online: Determinants of drug efficacy and the dynamics of G protein activation

Determinants of drug efficacy and the dynamics of G protein activation

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Published online: 30 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41594-026-01798-4G-protein-coupled receptors detect most hormones and neurotransmitters, and they have long served as important drug targets. Four studies recently published in Nature reveal how G protein activation is choreographed depending on the nature of the stimulus.

dlvr.it

Excited to see our Khan et al. manuscript highlighted in a News & Views by Henrik Dohlman in Nat Struct Mol Biol today, alongside three other papers capturing nucleotide-bound GPCR–G protein intermediates. A great synthesis of where the field is heading - looking forward to what's next: 💊 🧪

Determinants of drug efficacy and the dynamics of G protein activation - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology

G-protein-coupled receptors detect most hormones and neurotransmitters, and they have long served as important drug targets. Four studies recently published in Nature reveal how G protein activation i...

doi.org

Excited to share the first study from the Morstein Lab on a new approach that enables selective editing, tagging, and visualization of mammalian lipids www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... #chembio #lipidtime @caltech.edu @caltechcce.bsky.social @harayamajrlab.bsky.social @logan-tenney.bsky.social

I'm elated to share that I’ve been promoted to Associate Professor! I'm forever grateful for the support by my incredible lab and colleagues. The plan remains the same: tackling fundamental questions in GPCR biochemistry and pharmacology, while questioning the dogma. Looking forward to what’s next!

Incredibly proud to celebrate our very own Dr. Saif Khan on receiving the USC PhD Achievement Award tonight! It was wonderful to have you back with us. We're excited to see all the amazing things you’ll accomplish next. Wishing you continued success in all your future endeavors!

Excited to share our paper on the NLRP3 inflammasome condensate at the Microtubule Organizing Center (MTOC) by "precise!" cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), in collaboration with Jue (phyllis) Wang in the labs of Grant Jensen (BYU) and Pete Dahlberg (Stanford)! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

En route to share our latest work on the conformational landscape of opioid receptor activation. Grateful to my friend and collaborator, Dr. Susruta Majumdar, for the invitation—looking forward to connecting with everyone at WashU @washumedicine.bsky.social!

Can a single brain cell decide whether to eat or not? 🧠🪰 Turns out... yes. And we found it in the fruit fly. A pair of neurons called SELKs (subesophageal leucokinin neurons) can drive feeding behavior in both directions. They promote it or suppress it. Here's how: 🧵

A big step forward in Photopharmacology, just published in Nature Medicine: nature.com/articles/s41... A compound we conceptualized in 2008 (PMCID: PMC4040390) and synthesized in 2010 (PMCID: PMC3401033) proves effective in human vision restoration.

Intravitreal photoswitch therapy in advanced retinitis pigmentosa: a phase 1 open-label trial - Nature Medicine

A first-in-human phase 1 trial shows that intravitreal photoswitch therapy can be administered safely in advanced retinitis pigmentosa, with exploratory signals compatible with light responsiveness fo...

nature.com

I am delighted to be among this years winners awards from the Biochemical Society! The Early Career Award recognises the work I did during my PhD and postdoc, and hopefully signals a bright start for my new lab within the @astbury-bsl.bsky.social at the University of Leeds 💫

Biochemical Society@biochemsoc.bsky.social · 4mo ago

We are so proud of all our Biochemical Society 2027 Award winners. Visit our website to find out more about all of the deserving recipients #BiochemAwards 🧪 https://ow.ly/mZ6O50YIGo8

Exciting to see momentum building around our concept of inverse agonist-bound GPCR–G protein complex structures (PMID: 39775170). Great work from the groups of Can Cao & Xiaoguang Lei: a clinically viable MRGPRX4 inverse agonist for chronic itch with therapeutic potential. Congrats to all!

Development of a clinically viable MRGPRX4 inverse agonist for cholestatic itch treatment - Nature Chemical Biology

This study elucidates the structural mechanism of HEP-50768, a novel MRGPRX4 inverse agonist, and demonstrates its potent anti-itch efficacy and favorable safety in preclinical models, positioning it ...

nature.com