Excited to share our structural insights into how microtubules differentially guide phosphorylation of kinetochore-microtubule regulators, Ndc80 and MCAK, for chromosome segregation. Heroic efforts by Yiming Niu with a fun collaboration with Jennifer DeLuca lab! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Microtubules guide Aurora B substrate geometries for accurate chromosome segregation

Cryo-EM reveals how kinetochore-microtubule attachment is regulated by Aurora B substrate accessibility on microtubules.

science.org

The Rockefeller University @rockefeller.edu · 4mo ago

Microtubules have been viewed as passive structural supports, but a study from @hirofunabiki.bsky.social in @science.org Advances redefines microtubules as active regulators, helping to prevent abnormalities in the number of chromosomes, a hallmark of cancer. 🔗: https://bit.ly/4v8miCC

A new method from @hirofunabiki.bsky.social dramatically improved cryo-EM’s imaging capabilities, enabling visualization of molecules that are very rare, very small, or hard to produce naturally—including some viruses. #RockefellerScience #YearInReview 🔗: https://bit.ly/4awR4gv

Please check out my essay on the amazing life of Japanese American artist Ruth Asawa and her retrospective exhibition at MOMA, released at RockEDU Science Outreach blog site. rockedu.rockefeller.edu/blog/how-i-d...

How I didn't know - but now I know - Ruth Asawa - RockEDU

by Hironori Funabiki, Professor at the Rockefeller University “I’m not so interested in the expression of something. I’m more interested in what the material can do. So that’s why I keep exploring.” —...

rockedu.rockefeller.edu

Are you a grad student pursuing the life sciences or biomedical research outside the U.S.? Applications now open for the Angelika Amon Young Scientist Award until June 13. Enter to win $1,000 USD & a chance to present your work & network w/ MIT faculty. buff.ly/F7s94vW

The peer-reviewed VOR for the MagIC-cryo-EM paper by @yarimura.bsky.social‬ and @1001hak.bsky.social‬ is finally published! Congrats Yasu!

The Rockefeller University @rockefeller.edu · last yr.

Researchers in the #FunabikiLab have devised a way to visualize molecules that are very rare, very small, or hard to produce naturally—including some viruses. @elife.bsky.social #RockefellerScience

A great curiosity-driven research!

Bungo Akiyoshi@bungoakiyoshi.bsky.social · last yr.

I am happy to share a preprint on the marine plankton project I started one year ago (thanks to Julius and Drahomira's help) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

In preparation for the lecture tomorrow, I opened "The Cell in Development and Heredity" by E.B. Wilson (Columbia Univ), and realized that this 3rd edition was published in 100 years ago. So many things happened since then, including the fact that I, a Japanese Prof in NY, own and read the book.

Even "useless" objects can be appreciated - arts are indispensable for human society. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperar... Biologists know that redundant or non-essential parts often play important roles. Still, human society must decide on priorities, and this requires justifications.

Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD@prasad.bsky.social · last yr.

I may not be the first or last person to tell you about Chesterton's Fence, but I have a feeling you're already thinking about it under some other name

I must note that the Japanese scientist Akira Endo isolated statin (compactin) from the mold in 1972, after coming back to Japan from his 2 years of biochemistry study in Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY, where he recognized the major heart health issues among people in the US. 1/

Jason Sheltzer@jsheltzer.bsky.social · last yr.

Did you know - the medicine that President Trump takes each day to lower his risk of having a heart attack is a direct result of NIH funding? Let me explain -

Please check out our preprint where we find that mitotic transcription helps ensure ecDNA inheritance through chromosomal tethering: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Engraving on the exterior of the United States Department of Justice headquarters.

　A cool innovation to make live-immunofluorescence microscopy!

@tim_stasevich@tim-stasevich.bsky.social · last yr.

Making intrabodies from antibodies just got easier! Learn how we made 𝟭𝟵 intrabodies to bind and light up peptides and histone modifications in live cells. And thanks to Academia, all sequences are freely available. (video credit: Yuko Sato @YukoSatoT2) (1/15) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

There is a 0.0% chance that this was written or approved by anyone at NIH with any experience. 2/n

a man wearing headphones is smiling with the words no way written above him

ALT: a man wearing headphones is smiling with the words no way written above him

media.tenor.com

this is a very interesting slide deck from Ropes & Gray, one of the most prestigious & high-caliber law firms in the US tl;dr we have very good litigators on this issue

Anne Carpenter@drannecarpenter.bsky.social · last yr.

Here’s a document meant to prep for this possibility from a law firm: www.ropesgray.com/-/media/File...

Alarming news...

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · last yr.

1. Today the NIH director issued a new directive slashing overhead rates to 15%. I want to provide some context on what that means and why it matters. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Useful and great guidance and a script on how to contact your congressional representatives to advocate for federal scientific funding. Thank you @ascbiology.bsky.social! If this is your battle, start here!

American Society for Cell Biology@ascbiology.bsky.social · last yr.

Your Action Is Needed! Congress needs to hear from scientists. Call your representatives to oppose funding freezes and restrictions on research. Find contact info at govtrack.us and make your voice heard today! #SciencePolicy www.ascb.org/science-poli...

Enjoying a great okonomiyaki in Bushwick, Brooklyn, after being inspired by "Solitary Gourmet"

So sad to hear of the passing of Scott Hawley. In 2008, Michael Ashburner, Scott Hawley, and Casey Bergman held a Drosophila genetics and genomics course in China. This course was instrumental in shaping me as a junior researcher, and I am forever grateful about this eye-opening experience.

Part of a letter I sent today to my Congressional Representative and Senators.

I just contacted my representatives about the nomination of RFK, Jr and the recent executive orders. Here is what I wrote in my email or said to the staffer on the phone: Hello- I am writing/calling on several topics:

Check out a fantastic @elife.bsky.social article highlighting @yarimura.bsky.social’s MagIC #cryoEM technique - a method using specialized magnetic beads that makes it possible to study the structure of proteins from dilute samples. elifesciences.org/articles/105...

Cryogenic Electron Microscopy: MagIC beads for scarce macromolecules

Specialized magnetic beads that bind target proteins to a cryogenic electron microscopy grid make it possible to study the structure of protein complexes from dilute samples.

elifesciences.org

Pleased to share my thoughts on the new eLife publication model. elifesciences.org/inside-elife...

Publishing with eLife: “make positive impacts by contributing to such nourishing culture”

Why do authors choose the eLife Model? We spoke to Hironori Funabiki at the Rockefeller University to learn his reasons.

elifesciences.org

eLife@elife.bsky.social · 2y ago

1/3 Hironori Funabiki’s manuscript was unusual for a couple of reasons; it was his first first-author paper after leading a lab for 20 years, and it was outside his field of expertise. Still, he was determined to match the rigour he expected of any paper. https://buff.ly/4hmln9O

Happy New Year!

今晩の会食で、谷崎潤一郎が話題に。思春期に祖父の書棚で見つけた『鍵』を密かに手にした体験が、40年以上の時を経て、初めて伏線として回収される。

A thought on stupidity and creativity Last week, I visited a floor where I spent 6 years as a PhD student in Kyoto Univ. The room used to be my lab was converted into a women's restroom. I feel a bit sad, but it was an important improvement for female researchers. 1/

We are seeking a motivated postdoc to join our lab!  Our research focuses on live-cell imaging/analysis to reveal how chromatin behaves in living cells and how its behavior contributes to cellular functions. www.nature.com/articles/s41... www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Interested? Please DM me!

Well, here is the new start... (Yoshida shrine, Kyoto)